Traversing the frozen swampland of northern Minnesota is a race that challenges even the most hardy endurance athletes. Competing by bike, ski or on foot, the Arrowhead 135 winter ultra race launches each year in the Icebox of the Nation on what has been recorded as the coldest place in the USA on the coldest day of the year. Athletes are fully self-supported and given 60 hours to complete the course with only three checkpoints along the way.

​

The combination of cold, challenging terrain and lack of sleep participants encounter conquer even the most experienced racers. Strength and endurance alone does not ensure a finish. The Arrowhead 135 requires experience, patience, fortitude and will. All to arrive at a finish line that may not have anyone present to applaud the accomplishment. Follow three racers as they attempt to make it to the finish line: Bonnie Moebeck on bike, John Storkamp on foot, and Mark Scotch on skis. 

​

Filmed in January 2013, Moebeck, new to the Arrowhead 135 scene, was attempting the race for the first time after battling illness prior to the race. Storkamp, a seasoned Arrowhead 135 veteran and four-time winner brought experience and know-how to his eighth run on the trail. Scotch, a family man, reasonably new to the ultra scene, was attempting to ski the course for his second time.

Each of the racers had a very different and unique experience, and none of them were expecting the weather that swept the course on day two. 

​

The Arrowhead 135 film is the telling of their story and a glimpse of the trail that lures elite athletes to Minnesota from around the world.