MARQUETTE COUNTY, Mich. (WZMQ) – As excitement continues to grow for the UP200, teams of veterinarians are preparing to keep tabs on hundreds of the four legged athletes.
This year, around 20 vets and students are taking part in the events. Lara Stephens-Brown of Northern Lights Veterinary Service has been involved in the sport for 11 years, and is one of this year’s co-head veterinarians. She says it takes a passionate group of vet teams to monitor the entire experience.
“It’s all about the love of the dogs,” she said. “We’re there for the whole weekend, from Thursday to Sunday, and we are just focused on them. We get to see these amazing canine athletes do some amazing things, also with the people that support them.”
Before the race weekend, each dog will go through a mandatory pre-exam by these crews, checking on their breathing, joints, muscle groups, and paw pads. Across the race’s multiple checkpoints, the teams will be able to keep a close eye on each dog’s conditions as they progress. After the race, a post examination is also administered.
“On Friday morning, we write down some characteristics in their log book, and that book follows them across their entire race,” Stephens-Brown explained. “This is so the next vet team that puts their hands on that dog can look back on that record to see if there was anything noted before.”
Stephens-Brown also says most of this activity is found at the halfway point.
“When they get up to Grand Marais, sometimes that’s where we’ll see things unraveling, we’ll see some more medical issues up there,” she said. “There’s a lot that can happen and we’re ready for anything to happen, but it’s mostly a few minor things.”
As always, the pre-race vet check will be open to the public. This will begin at 9:00 a.m., on Friday, February 13 at the Marquette Riverside Auto. A full schedule of UP200 related events can be found here.
