SAWBILL CHECKPOINT - The John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon attracted dozens of mushers from around the world.

Teams had already logged 122 miles by the time they reached the Sawbill checkpoint on day two of the marathon.  "There's a four–hour mandatory rest here at Sawbill.  The teams get a nice rest here in the woods," said Beargrease board member Linda Nervick.

Mushers can pre–qualify for the Iditarod in Alaska at this checkpoint.  "This would be an experience they would have on the Iditarod Trail," she said.

"The teams come in, the mushers tend to his teams, there are no handlers.  He does not have help.  This is what makes the Beargrease a pre–qualifier to the Iditarod," Nervick explained.

Musher Phil Morrison and his team of yearlings arrived at Sawbill just before 10 a.m. Monday.

"Come on, buddy," Morrison said as he tried to convince the pups that nap time is over.

"They'd still like to be curled up in the straw right now, he said, "but they've slept well, they have eaten and drunk well and these guys have been doing it consistently.  It may be a little slow getting them on their way."

Morrison hails from Ireland, not a place you'd likely find dog mushers, but after retiring from 23 years of K9 training at a police college, he happened to meet Northland mushers Blake and Jennifer Freking.

"A chance conversation with a friend of Jennifer's and Blake's put me in touch with them in November of `04 and I was here in January of `05 and I've been back every year since," Morrison said.

And this year, he's running the Frekings' rookies.

"These are the young stars, hopefully," he said.  "Most of them are about 18 months of age and they're the future generation coming on."

For some, this is their first official race.  "This is part of their education," he said.

"This is about giving the dogs a positive experience and getting them used to this multi–day racing; the whole experience."

One or two of these young athletes may travel with the elite group to Alaska.  Others will have to wait.

Their training has just begun.