Thank you to everyone for making the 2009 Mush For a Cure a huge success! Total pledges at registration…
over $23,000!!!
Wow! Thank you to all the mushers for all their hard work in getting pledges, what they did is truly amazing. Some mushers still have pledges coming in and they will be added to the amount going to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Thank you to everyone involved; the mushers, sponsors, volunteers, organizers, prize donaters and spectators for making the 2009 Mush For a Cure a huge success.
This year’s event will be hard to top, but mark your calendars for March 13, 2010 for the 4th annual Mush For a Cure.
MUSH FOR A CURE 2009 WILL BE HELD ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, MARCH 13TH AND 14TH
What is the Mush For a Cure? Mush For a Cure is a non-competitive sled dog FUNdraiser with proceeds donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Mush For a Cure is not a race, it is a fun event to celebrate the sport of dog mushing and to cap off a winter of hard work, training and racing while raising funds to find a cure for breast cancer. The minimal entry fee to participate is to cover the costs of insurance, trail permitting, etc. Teams can do this in the form of a personal check, raised in pledges or both. However, participants can choose to get pledges above and beyond the entry fee. Pledge forms are available upon request or by scrolling down to the link at the bottom of this page.
If you would like to donate, send a check made out to “Mush For a Cure” and mail to:
Mush For a Cure
PO Box 282
Grand Marais, MN 55604
(If you would like to make a pledge for one of the participants, please contact him/her directly)
MUSH FOR A CURE 2009 IS DEDICATED TO SHELLY STETSON
Mush For a Cure is honored to dedicate this year’s event to Shelly Stetson; artist, dog musher, wife and mother. In early January of 2009 Shelly lost a courageous four-year battle with breast cancer at the age of 41. Shelly’s diagnosis was one of seeds that was planted in our brains that the fruit of which became Mush For a Cure.
From the Tuesday, January 14th Duluth-News Tribune: ”…it was Shelly’s sense of calm and her positive energy that most people speak of when they remember her.
“She was a wonderful spirit. You always felt it when you were around her,” said polar explorer Will Steger of Ely, a good friend of the Stetsons. “There was this great grounding.”
“People are drawn to her. All kinds of people,” said good friend Ingrid Evavold of Foxboro.
John Stetson said he was drawn to Shelly because of her sense of adventure. They knew each other for 15 years and were married for 10. Their first date was peeling logs for a friend’s home in Ely. For 12 years, they spent each October and November training their sled dogs in Churchill, Manitoba. Polar bear encounters weren’t uncommon. Shelly was undaunted.
“She wielded a shotgun like a state trooper — with a baby on her back,” John Stetson said.”
A strong woman indeed. Shelly we are blessed that you will be with us in spirit. Thank you to Shelly’s husband, John, and son, Nelson, for the honor of dedicating this year’s event to her.
3-3-09 update: Mush For a Cure just heard from Shelly’s husband John that he will be bringing three teams to the event with one of them being he and son Nelson running an 8-dog team together! (I have goosebumps from just typing that). Welcome John and Nelson!
THE PINK TRUCK IS COMING, THE PINK TRUCK IS COMING!!!
Como Oil’s Pink Truck will be in Grand Marais the week of Mush For a Cure. For every gallon of propane delivered out of the truck a penny is donated to the American Breast Cancer Foundation. From the Visit Duluth website:
CUT FOR A CURE
Saturday, March 14th from 10-5:00 p.m., Andrea Peterson of Studio 61 Hair in Grand Marais, will be at Trail Center “Cutting For a Cure”. Minimum donation is $10 for men, $15 for women with proceeds going to Mush For a Cure. No reservations are required, cuts will be on a first-come, first-served basis and hair must be washed that day sans of hair products (hairspray, gel, mousse, etc.) If anyone qualifies and would like to donate their hair to Locks of Love or Pantene Beautiful Lengths, please check out their websites for their donation requirments. Thank you Andrea!!!
SKIJOR FOR A CURE
Don’t know what skijoring is? It is cross country skiing and dog mushing combined…the “musher” is on a set of cross country skis and has his/her dog pull them while they ski. We are opening up 20 positions to skijorers who would like to participate in the 2009 Mush For a Cure. Skijor For a Cure will start at the same time as the sled teams. While the sled teams start in front of Gunflint Pines Resort, the skijor teams will start at the boat landing on Poplar Lake and run to Trail Center. We are excited to add this aspect to our 2009 event!
MEET A COUPLE OF OUR “OFFICIALS”:
2009 Mush For a Cure’s Race Marshall and Marshall-ette, Dick and Phyllis Parker
After last year’s event, Dick was stricken with a horrible infection that has had him down-and-out for most of the last year. Dick was our trail marker last year and with his recovery keeping him on low-impact activities, we thought he and Phyllis would make a great Race Marshall couple this year. The only thing we are missing for our Marshalls…a pink convertible for them to be escorted around in! (If anyone out there has one that we could “borrow”, let us know).
We are all wishing Dick a speedy recovery and are looking forward to having him back with us for the event. Be sure to look for him at the start shooting the starting gun!
We are honored to have Dick and Phyllis on our team!
HISTORY OF MUSH FOR A CURE
How Canoeing and Sled Dogs Came Together To Make A Difference In Women’s Lives
Sue Prom, along with her husband, Mike, own and operate Voyageur Canoe Outfitters, a full-service wilderness outfitter/resort at the end of the historic Gunflint Trail next to the world-famous Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. After a friend of Sue’s suffered from a debilitating illness in 2005, Sue designed Pink Paddles.
In 2006, Mary Black of Black Magic Kennels Racing Sled Dogs started the BL.A.C.Klub (BLack’s Adopt a Canine Klub) where Klub members “adopt” a canine athlete for the season. That same year, Sue’s Pink Paddles and Mary’s BL.A.C.Klub partnered. A portion of the BL.A.C.Klub “adoption” fee goes to the Pink Paddles breast cancer research fund. In January of 2007 Mary and Sue took the partnership one step further and Mush For a Cure was born.
The first event was held on March 24, 2007 with four women participating and raising over $2500. In 2008, our goal was to double the amount of the previous year and on March 15, twenty mushers (men and women) from around the state of Minnesota raised an unbelievable $13,000! Our goal for 2009 is to raise that amount to $20,000.
Mission Statement
It is the mission of Mush For a Cure to raise awareness of breast cancer and raise funds for breast cancer research through annual pledge/tribute runs by dog team. Although Mush for a Cure pledge/tribute runs are not limited to women, it is our goal to highlight the women in the sport of dog mushing.
