Great-grandson of John Beargrease to head up the race

Mike Keyport

Mike Keyport, the great-grandson of legendary dog musher John Beargrease, was recently elected to serve as president of the board of directors of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon.

Begun in 1980, this is the first time in the race’s long history that a direct descendant of John Beargrease will head up the race.

Keyport has served as the board’s vice president since 2014.

In the late 1800s John Beargease and his brothers would take the mail by sled dog from Two Harbors to Grand Marais, and sometimes all of the way to Grand Portage, a round trip distance of about 400 miles. This was a job they took over from their father, the first dedicated mail carrier on the North Shore.

While carrying the mail twice a week up the shore was a family affair, John was the most notable of the Beargrease mail carriers. With loads up to 700 pounds on his sled, John’s dogs could cover 30-40 miles a day. During the summers he would hike along the shore or take the mail by small boat up the shore.

For Keyport, a member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa who serves as the emergency management and safety director for Grand Portage, this vote was an honor, “to carry on my ancestor’s legacy and continue the great work that goes into the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon.”

Other changes to the board include communications director Jason Rice taking over the vice presidential duties for Keyport. Five new members were also added to the 13-member board.

One of the main things Keyport and Rice will work on is to increase the funding for the race. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the annual budget for Beargrease was about $200,000. Today, the race operates on about half of that. Keyport also said that bringing new people onto the board with new ideas might help run the race more efficiently, thereby saving costs.