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For Immediate Release
Two-Time Beargrease Champion and Daughter to Compete in Klondike Dog Derby
Blake and 11-year-old Elena Freking will race 40 miles on Lake Minnetonka Feb. 5
EXCELSIOR, Minn. (January 25, 2022) —Blake Freking, a two-time John Beargrease Marathon Champion and veteran of the Iditarod, Yukon Quest and other sled dog races, will compete in this year’s Lake Minnetonka Klondike Dog Derby sled dog race along with his 11-year-old daughter, Elena. Though she’s been mushing for five or six years now, this will be Elena’s first big race.
“She was at the Klondike Dog Derby two years ago when [her mother] Jennifer ran it and could see how fun it was. She’s been excited to do this ever since,” Blake says. Jennifer also is a musher and finished second as Blake finished first in the 2019 Beargrease. The couple and their two daughters live in Finland, Minn., and operate Manitou Crossing Kennels, where they raise and train Siberian huskies to compete in mid- and long-distance sled dog races.
The Klondike Dog Derby is a mid-distance race. Elena looks forward to running it in preparation for a longer, 120-mile race at the Beargrease next year, Blake says.
This video, Lure of the North, does a beautiful job of exploring the challenges of living and raising a family off-grid in the snowiest region of Minnesota, while capturing their devotion to the sport of dog sledding, their spirit of adventure and their commitment to the well-being of their huskies.
Blake and Elena are available for interviews leading up to, and after the Klondike Dog Derby. This includes Friday, Feb. 4, when the public is invited to watch as sled dogs go through veterinary checks in preparation for the next day’s race. From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., kids and others are invited to meet the mushers and pet and/or hug their dogs. The vet check and “Meet the Mushers and Hug a Husky” event will take place in the downtown Excelsior’s west parking lot.
On Saturday, Feb. 5, the race will begin with opening ceremonies at 9:30 a.m. At 10 a.m., sled dog teams will charge down snow-packed historic Water Street and onto frozen Lake Minnetonka before finishing back in Excelsior in the afternoon. New this year: a Klondike Village on Saturday with food trucks, a beverage garden, bonfire pits, a s’mores station, games and official Klondike Dog Derby merchandise.
[Media planning to attend: Please contact media@klondikedogderby.com in advance so we can direct you to where you can park and/or set up.]
The 2022 Lake Minnetonka Klondike Dog Derby is presented by Bridgewater Bank and sponsored by several other businesses. It will be the second produced by the Lake Minnetonka Klondike Dog Derby. Its first event in February of 2020 attracted an estimated 20,000 spectators in Excelsior and along the race route on Lake Minnetonka. Photos can be found online here. Due to COVID-19-related restrictions, the 2021 event was cancelled.
More about the Lake Minnetonka Klondike Dog Derby
The Lake Minnetonka Klondike Dog Derby is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to produce world-class sled dog races in a major metropolitan area to serve as a genuine celebration of the sport and spirit of the authentic North; an opportunity for education on the incredible athleticism and passion of sled dogs and mushers; and a tribute to the history of sled dog racing in Excelsior and the Lake Minnetonka area.
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