Arrowhead Ultra

I must be out of my mind to even be thinking of this. . . . but it's been disturbingly intriguing:

Arrowhead 135 Mile Winter Ultra

"The Arrowhead Winter Ultra is a non-profit human powered ultramarathon covering 135 miles across the Arrowhead Region of Northern Minnesota from International Falls near the Canadian border to Tower, MN. The course follows a scenic, hilly, State multi-purpose trail under extreme winter conditions starting at 7am--Monday, February 6 through Wednesday night, 7pm--Feb. 8th, 2006.

Completing the course is no small feat as winter temperatures in this area of Minnesota have been known to reach a record -60F degrees. No wonder the locals have dubbed their town the "Icebox of the Nation" and "Frostbite Falls".

There will be one race check point serving hot soup and water at a cabin about the midway point by Myrtle Lake near the town of Orr. Otherwise, racers are fully self-supported with a cutoff time of 60 hours. Each racer is required to carry mandatory food, water and gear as outlined on the rules page to cover the 3 days and 2 nights outdoors."

Heh, heh, madness. . . . but winter camping sounds like fun every couple of years.

I think the thing that might save me is that the City of Lakes Loppet is the weekend before, and the Vasaloppet the weekend after. We'll see if we get some real snow this year for ski training.

File Under: Adventure Racing,