Hermantown man, 74, drops out of 135-mile race with just 6.5 miles to go

TOWER — Michael Koppy was on pace to become the oldest person to finish the Arrowhead 135.

Then, with just 6.5 miles left to go in the brutal 135-mile race from International Falls to Fortune Bay Resort Casino near Tower, Koppy, 74, of Hermantown, stopped with severe back pain and called a friend to request a snowmobile pick him up.

“I thought I had it, too,” Koppy said as men on either side of him helped walk him from the back seat of a snowmobile to his friend’s warm truck.

Koppy’s homemade sled, which weighed 55 pounds fully loaded with the race’s required survival gear and which Koppy had pulled the entire race, was tied behind the snowmobile.

Robbie Skantz, the race volunteer who picked Koppy up, said he found him lying down on the trail.

“We tried everything we could, but he gave it the old college try to get up, and we walked with him for a little bit, but he just couldn’t — he just couldn’t,” Skantz said. “Too much pain in his back.”

Skantz said Koppy was disappointed he couldn’t finish and called him a “tough old dude.”

At about 12:30 p.m. Monday, more than 53 hours after the race started some 128 miles up the snowmobile trail, Koppy phoned his friend Byron Kuster, who was following him along the race course, requesting a snowmobile pick him up.

Kuster, who relayed that to race volunteers, asked the snowmobilers to talk Koppy out of stopping.

Another friend, Ajay Pickett, 38, of Woodbury, who finished the race on foot early Wednesday, spoke with Koppy by phone from the Fortune Bay lobby, urging him to take the ibuprofen the snowmobilers were bringing, lay down for 30-40 minutes before giving it another try.

After all, Koppy had another 6.5 hours until the 7 p.m. cutoff time — 60 hours after the start.

“You have plenty of time to finish,” Pickett told him, adding that there was very little elevation to climb between him and the finish.

But, according to Kuster and Pickett, Koppy wasn’t able to open his bivy sack and was getting cold.

Koppy’s wife, Carol Bonde, said she couldn’t think of a time when he didn’t finish a race. His ultramarathon resume includes several 200- and 250-mile races.

He also holds the fastest-known time for a supported completion of the 310-mile Superior Hiking Trail, which stretches from the Minnesota-Wisconsin border south of Duluth to the U.S.-Canada border. In 2020, at age 69, Koppy finished the route in five days, three hours and 44 minutes, shaving more than a day off the record set a year earlier by a 24-year-old man.

Koppy ran the Arrowhead 135 and is set to run the Western States Endurance Run, a 100-mile ultramarathon in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains in June, to raise funds for the Duluth Area Family YMCA.

Koppy, who had polio as a child and lost both his mother and brother to the disease, discovered a love of running in high school, going out for track and cross-country to stay in shape for wrestling. Ultimately, he fell in love with the sport after running 1,000 miles in the summer.

“I loved the meditative aspects of long-distance running, and I really never stopped since,” Koppy told the News Tribune last week.

10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Embark checkpoint, Cook

As racers approach the third and final Arrowhead 135 checkpoint, they’re greeted by signs of foxes with stanzas of Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” written on them.

But after 110 miles of running, walking, biking or skiing, those foxes and words get to people’s heads.

“Did they make you think you were hallucinating too?” Brandon Wood, 42, of Anchorage, Alaska, asked fellow racer Ajay Pickett, 38, of Woodbury, Minnesota, as the two sat in the checkpoint’s heated canvas tent. Both are competing in the 135-mile race’s “on-foot” category.

The signs were placed by Eric Weninger, who, dressed in a fox costume, stood next to a fire outside the tent late into the night Tuesday and early Wednesday, hooting and hollering as soon as he saw a racer’s headlamp appear down the trail.

Weninger, owner of the checkpoint’s sponsor, Embark Maple Energy (an energy gel company with a fox in its logo), said that while the poem is special to the Arrowhead 135, he knows the signs confuse racers.

“We’re on night two. A lot of folks have been running for a day and a half straight now,” Weninger said. “So it kind of adds to the psychological component of it.”

The fox signs with poem stanzas are fairly innocent compared to what used to greet incoming racers at this checkpoint.

A previous sponsor of the checkpoint would put mannequins in the trees and signs telling racers the checkpoint was a lot closer than it really was.

The Embark checkpoint is the last stop for racers before they reach the finish line at Fortune Bay Resort Casino in Tower. Having started Monday morning in International Falls, it’s where many racers call it quits.

But not Carla Gabrielson, of Grand Rapids, who was leading the female "on foot" category when she reached the checkpoint at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and got back on the trail headed for the finish about two hours later.

She’s won the Arrowhead 135 twice and finished four times.

“I train very, very hard because I like winning,” Gabrielson said, adding that she doesn’t like just finishing.

Sitting on a wooden bench inside the tent, Gabrielson had a nagging cough and said her back was occasionally bothering her. Tape protected her nose and cheeks from the cold, though she wishes it was colder.

But she wasn’t worried about the 25 miles between her and the finish line. She trains five days a week at a fitness center for five hours at a time, running 10-20 miles, and then on Saturday, she puts in a 30- to 50-mile day.

“I feel great because I train hard,” Gabrielson said before she got back on the trail.

11 a.m. Tuesday, Melgeorge’s Elephant Lake Lodge and Resort, Orr

Arrowhead 135 competitors found themselves practically "sleepwalking" their way to the 135-mile race’s midway point during the first night of competition.

Rachel Utecht, 37, of Fargo, North Dakota, ate a bowl of soup late morning Monday as she prepared to go back outside. She managed to sleep about an hour at the checkpoint — Melgeorge’s Elephant Lake Lodge and Resort — approximately 72 miles into the race.

“I was 'sleepwalking' on and off last night,” Utecht said.

That is, she was "sleepwalking" as she walked down a snowmobile trail in the middle of the night, pulling her gear in a sled behind her.

“You know when you have to open your car window to stay awake? It’s like the worst version of that,” she said. “And then you kind of stumble, and that’s what wakes you up.”

She has yet to have any exhaustion- or sleep-deprived hallucinations.

“That typically doesn’t happen until the second night,” Utecht said.

She wasn’t the only one "sleepwalking."

Jason McDaniel, 45, of El Paso, Texas, said he was “droning” as he walked through the night, which he described as “being in a fugue state while moving.”

He did manage to get two hours of “the most glorious sleep” at the checkpoint. Was it hard to wake up?

“No, because my freaking legs hurt,” Johnson said just before returning to the trial.

Shortly after Johnson left, Karla Kent, 61, of Las Vegas, reached the checkpoint. She rifled through the bag on her sled for her charging cables.

“You think you pack it all, then your brain just shuts off,” Kent said.

Asked if she had "sleepwalked" during the race yet, Kent said, “Oh, yeah, and I’ll probably do it again. But if all goes well, we’ll make it. It’s all that matters — get to that finish line.”

7 p.m. Monday, Gateway General Store, Kabetogama

A 74-year-old Hermantown man seeking to become the oldest person to finish a 135-mile-long winter ultramarathon across Minnesota remained on his goal pace at the first checkpoint Monday evening.

Michael Koppy walked into Gateway General Store on U.S. Highway 53 a little before 7 p.m., leaving approximately 45 minutes later after sitting, eating, warming up and chatting with other racers.

Having reached the checkpoint at 37 miles in just under 12 hours, he’s traveling at a pace a little faster than three miles per hour.

While he ran about half the first 10 miles, he’s walked all but the downhills since.

“It’s tougher than I thought,” Koppy said as he rummaged through his gear sled, looking for energy bars before returning to the trail.

But Koppy, who is running to raise funds for the Duluth Area Family YMCA, remained confident.

“I just think I’ll be taking it a little bit easier, not a lot, but just back off just a tad because I know the next section — there’s a lot more hills,” Koppy said.

Rachel Utecht, 37, of Fargo, North Dakota, said she felt “pretty good” as she put layers back on in the automotive parts and cleaning product aisle and prepared to go back outside. She was less tired than at the same point in past races, but said she also ran the least this year.

“I think of it in terms of days and nights,” Utecht said. “That’s like sunrise to sunset and then over again and over again. So I’m slow enough, I’m lucky I get to see three sunrises — it’s pretty great.”

Like the others, she reported soft trail conditions. “If you haven’t trained your ankles and stuff, it’s a s---show,” Utecht said.

Others were ready to call it.

Josh Anderson, 42, of Cottonwood, Minnesota, arrived at the checkpoint together shortly before 8 p.m. Monday. He was done.

“Mile 25 is not the mile to determine you don’t like winter ultras,” Anderson said.

1:30 p.m. Monday, Gateway General Store, Kabetogama

By the time racers reach the first checkpoint, they’ve already covered 37 miles.

Just 98 to go.

“I’m trying not to think about it,” said Scott Wopata, 41, the first runner to reach the checkpoint after about 6.5 hours on the trail. “One leg at a time kind of thing.”

Inside the Arrowhead 135's first checkpoint — Gateway General Store on U.S. Highway 53 — Wopata, of Dundas, Minnesota, quickly filled his water bottles with warm water as volunteers used tape to repair the bottom of his sled full of gear. He spent 14 minutes at the checkpoint before hitting the trail again, opting for liquid calories instead of solid food.

John Vallez, 37, of Duluth, who arrived at the checkpoint a few minutes after Wopata, hauled his gear in a pink kid’s sled. After perusing the convenience store snack section, he topped off his water and drank a cup of wild rice soup before returning to the trail.

He didn’t sit down to rest.

Others took time to savor the soup and warm up inside.

Forest Wagner, 44, of Fairbanks, Alaska, who is biking the race, sat down to eat a burger and soup.

While he’s cross-country skied races like this in Alaska, this is his first Arrowhead and the first time he’s biked such a race.

“When you’re on skis, it sure looks like the bikers are having an easier time … It’s not the case,” Wagner said.

He’s hoping overnight lows, forecast to be 3 degrees, will help stiffen up the snow and make biking easier.

Cooler temperatures would be welcomed news to Mark Dowdle, 27, of St. Paul, who ran into the first checkpoint wearing shorts.

“Changed into shorts at Mile 2,” he said.

His ideal temperature?

“The temperature that’s not making me sweat,” Dowdle said as he sat at a table inside, drinking a Dr. Pepper and eating chips and a bag of two-day-old spaghetti.

7 a.m. Monday, Kerry Park, International Falls

For up to 60 hours, bikers, runners, skiers and two kicksledders will slog along 135 miles of northern Minnesota snowmobile trails, fighting exhaustion, cold, trench foot and frostbite.

You’d hardly know the 166 participants at the predawn start of the Arrowhead 135, which takes participants from Kerry Park to Fortune Bay Resort Casino near Tower, were about to embark on such a suffer-fest.

Fireworks lit the dark sky as racers who have been through this ordeal together before reunited and hugged. One participant sang "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers as he lined up. The official start was signified by a man yelling, “Release the hounds!”

Racers have 60 hours to reach the finish line and there are only three checkpoints along the 135-mile-long race. Those checkpoints offer a reprieve from the cold for most racers.

A few will be competing “unsupported,” meaning they can’t go inside the entire time and must only rely on the food and water they bring or snow they melt into water.

No one can accept outside help from friends or family during the race.

Their progress can be tracked here.

The temperature hovered near 20 degrees at the start and is expected to reach 30 degrees Monday, according to the National Weather Service. However, the temperature could dip as low as 2 degrees overnight. Tuesday could see a high of 31 degrees and an overnight low of 10 degrees.

It’s far warmer than the years the race has been held in 30 degrees below zero polar vortex conditions. Race Director Ken Kreuger said he expects the finish rate, which averages about 58%, to be higher this year thanks to the weather. It’s been as high as 82% and as low as 20%.

Pam Reed, 63, of Jackson Hole, adjusted the gear on her sled near the start line shortly before the fireworks. She believes the warmer temperature will be OK.

“I think I like it warm,” Reed said. “We’ll see.”

She is returning for her “eighth-ish” Arrowhead 135, having won it twice and dropped out twice.

Reed, who has been running ultra marathons for 40 years, keeps returning to the Arrowhead for the people and “old-school” race vibe.

“Everybody’s so kind,” Reed said. “It’s really cool.”

4 p.m. Sunday, Backus Community Center, International Falls

With 15 hours before the race, participants gathered in an auditorium so organizers could run through some of the rules — like no outside help during the race and check-in at every checkpoint — and make a few safety reminders.

While volunteers will respond to a racer calling for help, race director Ken Krueger urged “self-rescue” and said making it to one of the three checkpoints at miles 36, 70 and 110 would be ideal.

“If you’re out there struggling and miserable and cold … it’s colder on the back of a snowmobile,” Krueger said.

If they need help on the trail, racers should pull out their sleeping bag and tent or bivy and set it up just off the trail with blinking lights visible so passersby know to check on them.

If they just want to snooze and intend to continue the race once they wake up, then they should set up camp a little further from the trail.

Bill Brandt, the race’s medic, warned racers to “curtail your enthusiasm” and reserve energy in the first half of the race.

Sweat and moisture will complicate things, Brandt said, and even with warmer temperatures, racers should protect their airway.

“If you go out there and you work up a big old sweat and you’re moving a bunch of air in and out of your airway, you can freeze your airway, you can frostbite the inside of your throat,” Brandt said. “And if that freezes, then it’s going to thaw, then it’s going to rupture, then it’s going to bleed, and then you’re going to be spitting up a bunch of blood and you're going to have a kind of excitement that you really weren’t hoping for.”

Noon Saturday, Backus Community Center, International Falls

Participants filed into the gymnasium lugging bags full of gear to be inspected by volunteers.

Each participant must carry survival gear like a sleeping bag rated at least to 20 below zero, a tent or bivy sack, a stove, a fire starter, their insurance card and other items. Racers must finish carrying at least 3,000 calories of uneaten emergency food.

“You got to be able to save your own life,” said volunteer Joe Weise. “That’s the key idea.”

The race, held on snowmobile trails, requires participants to wear blinking lights and reflective clothing or material.

“The odds of you dying, freezing to death are fairly low,” Weise said. “You’re a lot more likely to get hit by a snowmobile, so we want to avoid that at all costs.”

While cyclists can carry the gear in bags attached to the frame of their bike, runners often pull their gear in sleds totaling 40-50 pounds.

Weise, who has entered four Arrowhead races on foot and fished two, described the race as “60 hours of the human experience.”

Todd True, 54, of Esko, is attempting the race on foot again after dropping out 35 miles into the 2023 race. Then, that summer, he crashed mountain biking, breaking his neck and ankle.

Now he’s back for what he called “a nice long run in the woods — hopefully.”

“Once you start hanging out with the wrong group of people, it just kind of seems like the thing to do,” True said.

This story was edited at 6:46 p.m. on Jan. 29 to correct the spelling of Byron Kuster's surname. The most recent update was posted at 4:31 p.m. on Jan. 29. The News Tribune regrets the error.