MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Far from the cheering fans and the amazing animal athletes sprinting down Washington Street is the quiet nerve center of the UP 200. Where all the logistics are handled.
From up-to-the-minute weather forecasting, all emergency communications via ham radio, to tracking the location of each team, the logistics center is critical to the success and safety of these sled dog races. For security reasons, the exact location is not widely known, but everyone involved in the race relies on these volunteers who take their jobs very seriously.
“The race logistics center is the place to be to get all the information because the judges and everyone, they look to us. Nothing else would happen in this race, smoothly, without us,” said race logistics center lead Maddie Arszylowicz.
Because much of the race travels through remote areas with no cell phone service, the Logistics Center is staffed around the clock until the last dog crosses the finish line.
