Midshipmen participants brave snow and hazardous conditions to participate in the Arrowhead 135 Ultramarathon in Minnesota. The Mids spent three days in the cold weather to complete their challenge. Photo courtesy of Midshipman 1st Class Luke Finney.

The Arrowhead Ultra Sports Foundation is a non-profit organization of local athletes dedicated to the promotion of human-powered ultra-endurance events across the Arrowhead Region of northern Minnesota.

Race categories included bike, foot or ski and were chosen by the participants the day of the start. The 2010 event took place in a mass start at 7:03 a.m. the first morning on the Blue Ox trail⁄Arrowhead trailhead in International Falls, Minn., also known as ‘‘Frostbite Falls.”

Contestants had 60 hours to complete the 135-mile course while also carrying their own supply of food, water and gear to help them get through three days and two nights in extreme winter conditions.

The midshipmen started the race together on foot, each pulling a sled full of supplies. They made only brief stops to seek shelter from the subzero temperatures, eat and snatch a couple of hours of sleep. Although advertised as an individual race, the midshipmen decided to work together as a team for the entire event.

‘‘At night it’s much safer, with sleep deprivation and the cold, to stay together,” Griffin said. ‘‘It’s safer to have someone there with you. Chances are when you’re not feeling well, you have your buddy there to pull you up.”

After a total of 51 hours and 23 minutes, Link crossed the finish line, placing 8th on foot with Finney finishing 10 minutes behind in 9th place. McDonough, who contracted appendicitis days before the race, was unable to start. Tonking and Griffin did not finish the race, but together with McDonough they were able to assist Link and Finney until the finish.

During their time providing support, Tonking, Griffin and McDonough, along with parents who attended, made themselves available for anything they felt might be beneficial to the racers on the course or while they rested.

‘‘While they slept, I experienced the hectic lifestyle volunteers lead,” McDonough said. ‘‘Constantly running here and there, drying clothes, making food and doing whatever else. As we saw them off I remember thinking, we need to see them as many times as possible between here and the finish line. Needless to say, we did.”

As in 2009, the midshipmen used the event as a platform to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Found-ation (SOWF). The organ-ization began in 1980 as the Col. Arthur D. Bull Simons Scholarship Fund after the Iranian hostage rescue attempt. The purpose was to provide college educations for the 17 children surviving the nine men killed or incapacitated at Desert One. SOWF provides full scholarship grants and educational and family counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions and immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families.

‘‘Running the race was really more for raising as much money as we could for SOWF,” said Finney, who was the youngest participant in the 2009 race. Finney was able to talk with a wounded warrior at Bethesda before the race, and SOWF officials told him that more than half of the money the team raised would go to that person’s family.

‘‘That really kind of hit it home, being able to talk with him about his injuries,” he said. ‘‘The fact that he was so upbeat about the team made our efforts worth that much more.”

In addition to the $12,500 the midshipmen raised for SOWF, they found that they personally benefitted from the experience as well.

‘‘You come to understand yourself better going through something like that,” said Finney. ‘‘It definitely teaches you something about your motivations and personal determination and whether you can stick it out if it’s really tough. It shows you that you can push your body to do things you wouldn’t think are possible.”

To learn more about SOWF and how to contribute, go to www.specialops.org.