The 2016 Racing Season is starting

I really cringe at the thought but it is looking more and more like my prediction last year during the Iditarod about Fairbanks starts becoming the rule rather than the exception may be coming to pass.  I was shivering in New Mexico today and looked at weather.com where Anchorage and Fairbanks are among the ten places I check on every day. OMG!

Here in Alamogordo we was sitting at about 35 degrees and it was snizzling--a mix of snow and drizzle. In Anchorage, it was 50 degrees with rain. Fairbanks was down in the 20s as I recall. Unless January and February are about the snowiest on record, there is not going to be much if any white stuff down in the southern Prince Albert Sound area. So it is likely they will have the ceremonial start in Anchorage on March 5 and then everyone treks some 300+ miles north to start for real in Fairbanks on the 7th. If so, I hope the Yukon isn't quite as cold as last year. Temps of -50 to -60 are brutal for all concerned.

However Fairbanks has been getting snow and is mostly fairly cold--maybe not up to the ideal or typical but enough snow to train on and enough for the Two Rivers Mushers' to run their annual solstice fifty miler on December 19. Now according to their blog, Aliy and Allen are out running a longer practice trail with their dogs, an over-nighter.  The key 300 mile races will be happening soon, most in January. They are the qualifiers for the big ones and important if not as famous or quite as taxing as the 1000 milers. I will get some URLs for their various websites and Facebook pages for anyone who wants to follow them as I do.

FYI, a few of the shorter races are scheduled as follows:

     The Knik 200--in Knik, AK  (worry about snow since it is not that far north)
       begins on January 2
     The Copper Basin 300 starts on January 9 in Glenellen, AK
     The Kuskowim 300 starts on January 15 in Bethel, AK
     The Seney 300 starts on January 16 in McMillan, MI
     The Two Rivers 200 starts on January 22 in Chatanika, AK
     The Southern Lights 300 also starts on January 22 in Big Lake, AK
     The John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon starts January 31 in Duluth, MN

     The Yukon Quest and Yukon Qiest 300 both start on February 6 in
           Fairbanks, AK
      The Junior Iditarod starts on February 27 at Willow, AK (will move to                       Denali if inadequate snow
      Several other lower 48 races also take place in February