In 1990, I was working between North Carolina and New York City for a company as their art director and it demanded about 60 hours per week — I didn’t have a life. After eight years, I hit a brick wall. At that time, Will Steger and Paul Schurke were broadcasting their trip to the North Pole by dog sled and I followed it religiously. The small town of Ely, Minnesota had come together to help prepare for the trip. When I found out there was a college in Ely, I called and made arrangements to visit and I fell in love with the place. I came home, sold all my belongings and, with a few personal items thrown into a U-Haul, I headed north and back to school. This time, I would study wilderness management with the hopes that it would allow me the luxury of working in the outdoors — and the opportunity to live in the dog-sled capital of the world. 

Ely, Minnesota is the end of the trail. Beyond the town is about a million acres of wilderness and it is about five miles from Canada as the crow flies – on the Boundary Waters. It is the birthplace of the International Wolf Center and the former home of the Root Beer Lady and Jack Pine Bob, as well as the headquarters for Will Steger and Paul Schurke and many other sled dog racers and sled dog tour operations. I was in seventh heaven! When Paul Schurke came and gave a talk at the college and invited us to come and volunteer at his home (Schurke’s sled dog tour business called “Wintergreen”) with his dogs, I jumped at the chance. I spent the days chopping frozen meat, feeding the sled dogs and shoveling dog poop with the hopes of jumping on sleds for a ride at any given opportunity. We slept in a small bunk house with no electricity and when the wood stove went out, the -32º temperatures crept in. I learned the hard way how to stay warm in the frigid Northwoods.

When word that many of the sled dog racers needed help with the up-coming races, I volunteered for that too. It was then that I was introduced to a different breed of sled dogs. The skinny, muscular grey-hound-looking dogs that are bred for speed. Those dogs’ love for racing -- exhibited through their high-pitched bellowing -- was contagious. The Race, which ran through the middle of town, brought the town together and was the impetuous for Ely’s Annual Winter Festival. The Friday night before the Race, there was a spaghetti dinner held for the volunteers, towns folk and racers (which included the cross-country ski racers). Ice sculptures filled the local park for their annual competition and banners hung from the light posts throughout the town. It brought the entire community together – an event that broke up their long winters. 

Fast forward… I married Dan Groebner and when he got a job with the Arizona Game & Fish Department, we moved to Pinetop, Arizona. 

The small mountain town of Pinetop is a little bigger than Ely. However, most of the homes have electricity and running water and the winter temperatures seldom dip below freezing. It does snow here but only when the jet stream decides to drop into the southern Rockies and then you may or may not get any moisture. There was one thing, however, that I learned — they had sled dog races. I had heard that they had held the races at Williams Valley Recreation Area near Alpine but I had moved here too late to see them. I asked around to see if there was a chance to bring them back and someone gave me the number for a local musher. I called and eventually met Ron Miller. Miller had three sled dogs and was still racing in other areas. He had moved here from Alaska and was working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a forester. 

Together, we started to work on an inaugural sled dog race, with the help of Brian Gilbert. Gilbert worked for Cellular One and introduced Miller and me to Cellular One CEO Richard Watkins. At the time, Watkins was an advocate of the White Mountains and was very interested in getting the races going. The fact that you could hold a dog sled event in Arizona was very unique. I was working with Myra Wagner at Sunrise Park Resort then and we met with her and picked an area that had existing trails that were groomed. — and we had a race. I do remember, however, crossing our fingers that we would have snow and it didn’t come until the day before the race — it was a blizzard! 

Miller had contacts with several mushers from Phoenix, New Mexico, Flagstaff, Sedona and Vernon. That first Race was a huge success. Paul Schurke flew in from Ely and gave presentations to local schools on his trip to the North Pole. We had a ‘meet and greet’ the day before the Race and we gave rides to kids on the last day after the Race. It was the beginning of something really great! Later, we included a dog weight pull, dog shows, ice sculptures, live music and a Chili Cook-off. We had generous sponsors who helped build the Race purse to one of the largest in Arizona and the surrounding areas and gave us the opportunity to donate some money to local dog shelters. 

There was an unmistakable camaraderie among the mushers, their dogs, the crowds that came to watch and a great love for the sport. Future races brought in mushers from Mexico, Colorado and Alaska. One year, we even got a call from the New York Times who wanted to know if we were really holding a sled dog race in Arizona? We were featured in Arizona Highways and the Arizona Republic and every year, including this year, Channel 5 (CBS) and other stations played our videos on the news. For us, it was always about the love for the sport — it was never a money maker. Miller stepped down in 2013 (the same year we lost veteran musher Bill ) and the Race has never quite been the same. The future of this event is now dependent on new blood, new mushers and the changes that always come with any event. 

Other races have started and ended but the Winter Games at Sunrise Park Resort just held its 17th Annual Race this year. Change comes to all things but my hope is that the event that Ron Miller and I started so long ago will get back to its humble beginnings and be an event that brings the community together — for the love of the sport, the dogs and the great camaraderie that is the root of all great things.