photo by Brian Peterson

"If I am asked: What is the use of traversing the Arrowhead?  I reply, No use at all; no more than kicking a football about or dancing or playing the piano or writing a poem, or painting a picture....But if there is no use, there is unquestionable good in ascending Mt. WakemUp and completing 135 hard miles.  The accomplishment of such a feat will elevate the human spirit.  It will give men and women a feeling that we really are getting the upper hand on Earth, that we are acquiring a small bit of  mastery of our surroundings....If Man stands at the Arrowhead finish he will have an increased pride and confidence in himself, in his struggle for ascendancy over matter.  This is the incalculable good which the finish of the Arrowhead 135 will confer"..Sir Francis Younghusband-RGS 1919

For those not intimately familiar with Arrowhead Trail, here are some videos and a "mapmyride" giving some idea:

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/55003390

mapmyride approximate route, not showing zigs and zags especially around Elephant Lake.  elevation gain not accurate, more like +7000' from racer GPS data.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeWLedxPuNc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw-1W6dj2Cw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XdnanD9eLw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iBIfU-Zpuk&feature=related

All ARROWHEAD 135 great Supporting Sponsors are back 2012 including: Revelate Designs, Surly (Pugsley), Salsa (Mukluk), Speedway (Fatback), Chain Reaction (907), BarMitts , SkiPulk , Empire Wool and Canvas Co. along with  lodging/checkpoint partners MelGeorge, Fortune Bay, Gateway Store and "Americas IceBox" the Friendly City of International Falls! And don't forget of course nice Minnesota DNR and US Forest Service.

We are also way lucky with new friends this year including: O2 Rainwear (great cycling rainwear, etc from Minnesota), North Branch Dental (for your post-race mouth problem), Arctic Innovations-Hydro Heater (heated camelbak hose), Batteries Plus in Savage, MN (owned by racer Iron Mike Criego), Dogwood Designs (from Alaska, best pogie/poagies out there) email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Working on a couple more.

Some of these folks will be at our pre-race check in with stuff and we are going to have another better than ever "World Famous Arrowhead Schwag Drawing" at dinner meeting.

We'll be putting more info up on our sponsors soon on separate tab.  Keep them in mind for gear and services please, we could not have the Arrowhead without them....

Dear Arrowhead: Perhaps the compelling reason to allow me to participate in this year's Arrowhead 135 has to do with my rather ascetic beginnings.....I am the love child product of a passionate romantic tryst, somewhere on the steep slopes of an alp located within the Karakoram Range, betwixt two of the greatest explorers of the Golden Age--namely Amelia Earhardt and Ernest Shackleton.

My mother never told Shackleton for fear the news would cause him indigestion.  She also knew she could never raise me properly as she was allergic to children.  She courageously sold me to a tribe of Sherpa mountain folk.  This loving clan of simple people could not provide for me as they had collective distaste for all things which were smallish, cried, and occasionally stinky.  Thus my second parents with great regret traded me to an English mountaineering troupe for a few liters of "flavored" Chai.

Luckily for me, their leader, the Great Mallory, had a predilection for infants, feeling they brought good luck, so he agreed to the trade with the stipulation that no one would object to him carrying me along in his rucksack as he made his historic summit attempt on the flanks of Mount Everest.  Given that his demise is well-recorded within the annuls of mountaineering lore, suffice to say that I was tossed off the mountain in a futile effort to save weight as the air thinned and Mallory became obsessed with gaining a foothold upon the top of the world.

Picked up by a pride of Yetis, I was raised to manhood by these uncomplicated and exceedingly shy beasts.  In a tear-wrenching encounter with the great alpinist Reinhold Messner, my adoptive parents reluctantly gave me up to the Italian Superstar in trade for a broken, yet shiny Rubik's Cube.

Messner regaled me with stories of great adventure during our brief time together, but alas he too found it too difficult to offer me sanctuary as he complained I smelled of old musky socks and displayed poor table manners.

Messner traded me to the Mayo brothers, who were traveling near the base of Annapurna, in exchange for a few doses of Diamox and that is how I found my way to Rochester, Minnesota as a young man.

Dear Mr. _ _ _ _ _ _: We are sorry but the roster is full.  Plus, just having a robust, adventurous childhood does not, in itself, qualify you for this "God-Forsaken" race.  Signed, AH 135