The Junior Iditarod will begin this Saturday. Eleven young mushers are signed up to participate. I will be following the action, of course! This is not the only trining ground for future competitors but it is a good place to start and many who now run in the Iditarod and/or the Yukon Quest did enter the kids' version at some time. Racers must be between 14 and 17 and certainly both girls and boys are equally well received and represented in recent years. This yer they will start at Knik Lake which I believe is the traditional trail. They had to move north to Denali last years due to the lack of snow.
An update on Nikolai Buser; he has recently moved from the hospital in Seattle to a rehab therapy facility. He's expected to be there several weeks but may be home by April. This is wonderful news. I am sure his youth, strength and fitness paid off well in helping him recover from some horrendous injuries. Certainly prayers and good energies from many friends and supporters played a role as well. His brother Rohn has gone home as of a week or two ago and now his dad has headed back to Alaska as well. I noted that Rohn had withdrawn from the Iditarod but so far Martin had not. I expect him to, but I have been wrong before. I'll be checking again soon and also trying to follow up on Deedee Jonrowe's situation. I am still praying and hoping for her to run this year.
Next week will be a busy one as the mushers get ready for the big race and the festivities in Anchorage. Most of them will be there with their teams by mid week. The bib draw and starting banquet is Friday and the ceremonial start is Saturday, the 5th of March. Then they move north but only a short 60 miles or so to Willow where the official start will take place on Sunday, the 6th, Right now there is a huge number of racers signed up; we will see if any more withdraw before the start but at last count it was over eighty! That almost staggers the mind. Eighty times sixteen (dogs) is a heck of a lot of booties and many tons of dog food and --well, it's just crazy! It will take over two hours to get them all started, I expect. The early numbers will have a lot of time added to a layover to put everyone even again. At times that can hurt but it is only fair.
The Junior Iditarod has its own site. jriditarod.com so you can click out to it and see what's coming up. And start watching the main site iditarod.com by about Wednesday for late breaking news! Of course I will share anything I learn here.
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