The Arrowhead Ultra 2014

  Photos Courtesy of MPR News (Minnesota Public Radio)  On Monday, January 27th, 141 bundled and brave racers took off from behind the Kerry Park Ice Arena in International Falls with the enthusiastic command of “Release the hounds!!” The 10th Annual Arrowhead Ultra 135 had it’s second coldest start this year, recording a bone chilling temperature of -24°F, and a windchill of -46°F. Every year, the Arrowhead 135 proves itself to be a race that truly tests the limits of one’s body, mind, and endurance.  The 141 racers are of one of the three propulsions: runners, skiers and bikers. There was a staggered start for the different disciplines – the bikers took off at 7:00 am, skiers at 7:02 am, and runners at 7:05 am. The route is simple. It starts in International Falls and finishes at the Fortune Bay Casino in Tower, MN –  following 135 miles of beautiful, Minnesota snowmobile trail.  There are 3 required check points along the way. Each check point is roughly 35 miles apart. At the second check point, MelGeorge’s, the volunteers dish out hot soup and grilled cheese, a warm Minnesota welcome for those racers who make it to the 70 mile race mark. The results of this race vary greatly from year to year, as so much of this event has to do with weather and trail conditions. Out of the 141 participants who started the race this year, only 37 finished.  Only 1 participant (a runner) missed the 60 hour cut-off time for the finish by 10 minutes, a heartbreaking defeat. The Bikers Recap The course record for biking was set in 2013 by Todd McFadden, finishing with a time of 14 hours and 20 minutes.  Unfortunately, this year McFadden was stopped at the first checkpoint when the EMS told him he could not continue due to frost bite. The 2014 winner was Jay Petervary, with a time of 20 hours and 11 minutes. It is hard to say why the times differed from last years, but it is safe to say that some of these racers were spending more time inside at the check points warming up than they did in 2013. The top 5 bike racers this year included a female, Tracey Petervary (wife of Jay who took first). Tracey had a final time of 27 hours and 22 minutes. The women’s record was not touched and is held by Eszter Horanyi from 2012 at a time of 18 hours and 18 minutes. Top Five Finishers for Bikers: (for full race results click here)

Place	Bib #	Name	State/Prov. Ctry	Overall Time	Comments
1	71	Jay Petervary	ID USA	20:11:00
2	165	Tom Puzak	MN USA	21:26:00
3	6	Alec Petro	MA USA	22:34:00
4	44	David Gray	MN USA	25:57:00
5	166	Tracey Petervary	ID USA	27:22:00	1st woman biker