Veteran cross-country snowmobile racers Bob Menne and Steve Swenson are set to check off a bucket list ride Sunday when the two set out as rookie teammates in the “World’s Longest, Toughest, Snowmobile Race,” the 2031 mile Iron Dog in Alaska.
Although the two have not raced for decades, both have long histories in the sport, having raced many of the iconic I-500 races between Thunder Bay and the Twin Cities during the last real hay day of point-to-point snowmobile racing. Menne, in fact, was in the middle of one of the greatest 500s ever in 1989, when he finished second to Jeremy Fyle in a battle that saw three racers, including Brian Bernloehr, battle within seconds for nearly the entire distance of the final leg from Duluth to Forest Lake, Minnesota.
While Menne and Swenson have realistic expectations about their odds of winning the Iron Dog, they do have bigger purpose in mind. Aside from hoping to post top daily and overall finishes for a rookie team, they will be raising money for the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, a program dear to Swenson who’s son Mitchell has undergone therapy in the program after being paralyzed from the chest down in a dirt bike accident four years ago.
The team is still taking online donations for their fund-raising effort which can be made in a lump sum or by the mile as they compete in the Iron Dog.
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