Dog Sled Race Goes High Tech with GPS Tracking
21 Jan 2014Minnesota-based Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon goes digital with live GPS tracking of the race.
On January 26th at 1:00pm, the annual Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon returns to Duluth, Minnesota where it will start at Duluth East High School. This year, the track is the same as previous years, and many participants are returning after completing the race for several years. One thing that is brand new for the 2014 marathon race, though, is that GPS tracking technology is going to be used. This year the race is providing data in real-time to the public and the fans.
Global positioning systems (GPS) are used for a variety of things, aside from basic navigation, which is what the majority of people use them for. But increasingly, many governments, associations, and organizations are using GPS tracking to gather data for animal protection studies, catch criminals, and measure data for other uses. A latest use is for the Beargrease dog sled marathon race, where GPS tracking is used to follows racers through the course between Duluth and Grand Portage.
The race has gone on faithfully for over 30 years, and this is the first time advanced technology like GPS tracking is being used. Fans of the race are able to follow their favorite participants on their own computers, where the data is updated about every 60 seconds. It is also helpful for family and friends of racers so they know exactly how far they have gotten in the race.
All of the mushers in the race are going to be equipped with a GPS tracker, that follows the musher’s movements throughout the entire 374-mile marathon course. The course goes from Duluth to Gunflint Lake, then back round to Duluth where they began.
Mushing in Minnesota began when John Beargrease began a winter mail carrying service with his dogs to bring mail between Grand Marais and Two Harbors, near the end of the nineteenth century. He died in 1910 in beaver Bay, Minnesota, but his legend lives on thanks to the John Beargrease dog sled race that makes the 374-mile trek between Duluth and Grand Portage every year. (By the way, mushers is the term used for a sport or other form of transportation, which is done with the help of dogs, whether it is sledding on snow during a race, or transporting carts on dry land.)
“The acquisition of GPS technology will move the Beargrease into a new era. We’re going to know where marathoners are at around the clock, and so will the public,” John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon president Jason Rice told reporters.
Anyone hoping to track the progress of the race and anyone specific can do so from the marathon website atwww.beargrease.com. A page will soon be set up for the public to watch along with their favorite mushers.“We’ll be able to better share the thrill of competition with our fans, and it adds a new element of safety for the dogs and the mushers,” Rice added.
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