Grand Marais woman wins first place in the women's division at the first ever Gunflint Scramble bike race
Oct 11, 2023 08:53AM ● By Content Editor
Race contestants preparing for their 20-mile Gunflint Scramble. All photos by Alex Dobbins
By Alex Dobbins - Boreal Community Media - October 11, 2023
Saturday, October 7, 2023, turned out to be a perfect, brisk fall day for Bearskin Lodge to host their first annual “Gunflint Scramble” mountain bike race. The Gunflint Scramble consists of a series of Nordic ski trails, snowmobile trails, and roadways to create a 20-mile round-trip loop to the Bearskin Lodge’s parking lot. The course is challenging, with with elevation reaching over 2000 feet. In total there were 41 contestants; 36 men and 5 women competing for the first-place prize, which is 3 free night stays at the Bearskin Lodge.
Photo: Gunflint Scramble mountain bike race contestants during the first half of the race. A portion of the race was on county roads
Quinn McCloughan is the owner of the Bearskin Lodge and the organizer of The Gunflint Scramble. Quinn and his wife, Kate Vernon, enjoy cycling and decided to combine their passions and start the inaugural mountain bike race for the Gunflint Trail. The team did an excellent job at keeping the cyclists safe with well-marked paths to direct them, and by keeping an eye out for traffic and grouse hunters along the roadways.
Photo: Bearskin Lodge did an excellent job marking and directing the road and pathways for their mountain bike racers
Race results
First place
- Will Fritzke from Minneapolis took home first place for the men’s division with a time of 1 hour 31 minutes and 23 seconds.
- Kate Vernon from Grand Marais took home first place for the women’s division with a time of 1 hour 48 minutes and 23 seconds.
Second place
- Jim Joynes from Duluth took home second place for the men’s division with a time of 1 hour 43 minutes and 50 seconds.
- Kelly Lewis from Minneapolis took home second place for the women’s division with a time of 2 hours 21 minutes and 53 seconds.
Third place
- Elliot Lewis of Minneapolis took home third place in the men’s division with a time of 1 hour 48 minutes and 4 seconds.
- Marianne Vandenberg of Minneapolis took home third place is the women’s division with a time of 2 hours 36 minutes and 13 seconds.
The average finishing time for the Gunflint Scramble mountain bike race was 2 hours 37 minutes and 56 seconds.
Photo: The mountain bike racers made their way down Clearwater Road in Grand Marias, MN
Bearskin Lodge Men's Winner for the Gunflint Scramble Race was Will Fritzke from the Twin Cities. His time was 1 hour and 31 minutes.
The first-place winner in the women's division of the Gunflint Scramble was Kate Vernon of Grand Marais. Her time was 1 hour 48 minutes and 23 seconds
