Hear Ye, Hear Ye! The 48th Jr. Iditarod will start over near Glenallen. Mother Nature has provided excessive warmth and insufficient snow fall for the run to go from Knik Lake out to Yentna Station Roadhouse and back. It doesn’t happen often as this will be the fourth race of forty-eight that organizers have moved to an alternate route. We’ll get back to that later.
The field for the 2025 Jr. Iditarod stands at fourteen including two rookies and twelve veterans. The young women outnumber the young men eleven to three. Along with the two rookies there are 4 veterans with three finishes, 2 veterans with two finishes and 6 veterans with one finish. All that adds up to twenty-one years of Jr. Iditarod experience for the competitors of 2025. Now, meet the two rookies.
Rookie Hazel Sutton of Fairbanks comes from a mushing family. The Suttons had dogs before Hazel was born so as might be expected, she started mushing at a very young age. The 150 mile Jr. Iditarod will be the longest race she’s attempted. Sutton has competed in the T-Dog, Junior, North American Championship (JNAC), the Solstice Relay and the 2025 Willow Jr. 100 where she earned 6th place. Along with running dogs, Hazel enjoys cross-country skiing, bird watching, running, reading and hiking. As a freshman at West Valley High, Hazel is contemplating a degree in biology, ornithology or perhaps veterinary science and fully intends to continue mushing.
Rookie Alex Floor of Talkeetna has loved dogs from early in her childhood. She was introduced to sled dogs at the age of two, began running dogs at the age of ten and ran her first race at the age of 13. Being outside with her dogs is a favorite past time and she enjoys playing volleyball and participating in track at Su Valley Jr/Sr High School where she is an 8th grader. Alex ran the 2025 Willow Jr. 100 and placed 11th.
As mentioned earlier, conditions have required relocating the Jr. Iditarod race in three previous years. In 2003, the Jr. Iditarod was moved to Glennallen for lack of snow. In 2015 the race moved north to Cantwell, again for lack of snow. In 2022, the race again went north to Cantwell but not for lack of snow. Instead it was superabundant snowfall that created copious amounts of overflow. That year, the race was run as a two day stage race.
Some twenty-two years later, the race is returning to Glennallen. Snow is abundant and mushers using the trails find them to be in excellent condition. Jr. Iditarod officials announced the move to Glennallen because there is insufficient snow from Willow out to Yentna. The 2025 Jr. Iditarod start will be at Tolsona Lake Lodge on Saturday February 22nd. The mushers will travel out to Lake Louise Lodge for their required layover then return to Tolsona for the Sunday finish and banquet. The Lake Louise Lodge checkpoint is vehicle accessible, quite different from Yentna Station Roadhouse.
Happy trails and best wishes to veterans Morgan Martens, Hannah Wappett, Ellen Redington, Madeline Knolmayer, James Shawcroft, Eva Robinson and Jack Dixon as they graduate from Jr. Iditarod after the 2024 race and mush into the future!
Comeback tomorrow to meet the first year veterans who are returning for the 2025 Jr. Iditarod.
