Very few eighth graders have spent their winters preparing to run a dog team 120 miles through the wilderness. 

But for Morgan Martens of Brule, Wis., it was just the next step. 

"I did the Beargrease 40 last year," he said. "It went good. We used our own team, and I placed 6th or 7th out of 13." 

This year, when two-time Beargrease champion Ryan Redington came down from Alaska to do races in the Lower 48, he set up his kennel right across the driveway. 

Redington has taken Martens under his wing -- or lime-colored sleeve -- encouraging him to challenge himself with the Beargrease 120 Junior Class. 

"We thought, might as well try to do the 120 with our dogs. It's a pretty big step up," Martens said. 

He's been heading out three or four days a week to train. He says Redington goes out six or seven days a week.

After finishing the Beargrease 120, Martens will head further north to run 140 miles through the Alaskan wilderness in the Junior Iditarod. For that race, he'll run Redington dogs. 

"They're really fast and they can keep it up for awhile," he said. "If you stop, they immediately start barking like, what the heck? Why are we stopping?" 

Martens' goal is simply to get himself and the dogs to the finish safe and happy. 

The Junior Iditarod starts Feb. 27. 

No spectators are allowed at the 2021 John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. WDIO will live stream the start at 9 a.m. Sunday and provide updates throughout the race.