Jesse Terry, Mary England reflect on successful racing season

Tim Brody - Editor

After competing in the Yukon Quest and John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon this season, husband and wife mushers Jesse Terry and Mary England of Sioux Lookout are thrilled with what they achieved this past season.
For Terry, an experienced musher with 30 years of experience, the Feb. 2 Yukon Quest presented a new challenge. Terry competed in the YQ450, a 660-kilometre loop beginning and ending in Teslin, Yukon.
“For me it was the longest race that I have done,” Terry shared. He finished 3rd of eight mushers in three days, 13 hours and 29 minutes.
“I feel really good about our team’s experience there for sure. We were racing with some pretty competitive teams,” he said. “All these teams we were racing with and against have far more experience themselves and their dogs, their dogs have probably, the majority of them, raced 1000 mile races in the past, so for us to be competing with those teams and kind of in the middle of them was really, really great. It made us feel like we’re doing things right, our dogs are really good quality and can keep up with some of the best teams that are out there doing this,” he stated. Terry and England run On The Land Sled Dogs kennel.
Terry was also presented with the Sportsmanship Award following the race. “That was a really, really cool honour to be nominated for that award. With that award it’s the mushers who vote on that, so to receive that award from such a great, accomplished group of mushers was really cool.”
For England, who now has six years experience running sled dogs and competed in the YQ175, a distance of approximately 282 miles, it was all about getting experience for the couple’s puppy team.
“I had a team of three adult dogs and seven year and a half old rookies,” England explained.
“It’s really a chance to get them out and run a few consecutive runs and really aim for a slower race experience for them. We’re definitely not gunning to win,” she said.
England finished sixth of six mushers.
This was the couple’s first time competing in the Yukon Quest and they didn’t have a lot of downtime before competing in their next race, the 40th running of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Minnesota on March 2.
Due to unseasonably warm weather, the first leg of the race had to be cut, and the start line was moved to Two Harbors. 
Both Terry and England competed in the event’s marathon, an approximately 300-kilometre race.
Terry, who was aiming to do as well as he could this season and ran the couple’s most experienced team, finished 3rd in a field of 18 mushers. Three teams withdrew from the race and four teams scratched, leaving 11 teams who finished the race.
Terry said he was okay with finishing third, “Definitely happy with it. Definitely running to be competitive again but I think I got the best performance out of the team that we could.”
“The whole race was definitely warm but one day it was like +7 and sunny, definitely some warm weather for sled dogs to be operating in,” Terry said, adding, “It’s all something that’s quite manageable with the sled dogs and how they’re absolutely amazing at performing at what they do, and so we managed it by making sure they were staying hydrated, so they’re getting extra fluids, and then we’re also stopping lots on the trail, taking these little micro breaks so they can roll in the snow. So, these little micro breaks allow the dogs to regulate their temperature without overheating so you can continue moving a healthy dog team down the trail.”
John Beargrease, for whom the race is named, was as born in Beaver Bay, Minnesota in 1858, the son of an Anishinabe Chief, Moquabimetem.
According to the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon’s website, “John Beargrease and his brothers were avid hunters and trappers and made regular trips to the region along their well-established Lake Shore Trail trap line. Recognizing the opportunity, John and his brothers picked up the job of delivering the mail by simply tossing a mailbag or two into existing packs.
“For almost twenty years, between 1879 and 1899, John Beargrease and his brothers delivered the mail between Two Harbors and Grand Marais. With the limited equipment available and loads weighing as much as 700 lbs. The trip was made once a week…an incredible feat for one man to accomplish especially when you consider the constant range of altitude along the shore.”
For Terry, an Anishinabe musher and a member of Lac Seul First Nation, it meant a great deal to compete in the 40th running of the John Beargrease Marathon. “A race named after an Anishinabe mail carrier near the end of the 1800’s. His mail route was along the north shore of Lake Superior in the same area the race happens today. As the only Anishinabe musher racing in the Beargrease, I feel that I want to represent mushing in the best possible way that I can. And to me that means not only having a healthy and happy team of sled dogs but also having a competitive team as well. I’m very proud of our team for placing 3rd this year and look forward to racing more Beargrease races in the future.”
Looking back on her John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon experience, England said her goal was the same as the Yukon Quest, to get experience for their kennel’s (On The Land Sled Dogs) puppy team. 
England finished 11th, the final racer to cross the finish line in Grand Portage.
“We came in last, Red Lantern they call it because there’s that tradition that the last person blows out the lantern once the final person has crossed the finish line and there’s nobody left on the trail, so last place is always called a Red Lantern in sled dog races,” England shared.
“I didn’t have any intention of thinking I would be a competitive team; the goals of this race were really to get the puppies the distance experience. We set out some clear pacing goals, keeping that at eight, eight and a half miles per hour the whole time, which can be hard when you get the enthusiasm of the team and their energy,” she said, adding, “They kept up a fantastic pace. It was beautiful at the end. I was really, really happy with that.”
Terry has been involved with sled dogs since the age of 11 when his father brought some home.
Looking back on his career as a musher he shared, “Thinking about those first times running the Hudson Bay Quest and just barely finishing to what we’re doing now, definitely feel like this kennel has come a long way.”
Terry and England wished to thank everyone who has supported them, sponsored them, or followed their races.
“We just want to say thanks for all the support, encouragement, the sponsorship that we’ve received for running these races really means a lot to us, to know that we have this group of people in our hometown who seem really excited to follow what we do with our dogs. It’s very humbling and it’s definitely motivating as well,” Terry said.
“Sometimes it’s a bit cold out there and difficult and even just knowing that there’s people out there following along means a lot even during a race, not just after,” England added.
The couple wished to thank the Egerter-George family for assisting them at the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon.