There are two mushers who will be running their third Jr. Iditarod in 2025. One came to sled dogs through skies and the other comes from a mushing family. One has an eye on competing in the Iditarod one day and while the other hasn’t said as much, it may be inevitable given the family’s history. Let’s meet these two dedicated youth mushers.
Keira Irish, age 16, came to mushing through a dog powered but sled-less sport – Skijoring. Shortly after that first experience on skies, she began mushing dogs at ReRun kennel. ReRun’s dogs are rescue dogs which powered her first racing experiences in 2022 at the Two River’s Solstice Invite and the Jr. Iditarod where she finished in 11th place. For the past two years, she’s been running dogs from Trail Breaker Kennel established by David Monson and the late Susan Butcher. Irish placed 4th in the Quest Alaska 80 mile race earlier this season. The junior at Lathrup High School in Fairbanks, likes to play flag football, skijor, bike and do anything that involves dogs. Keira hopes to pursue a career in wildlife biology. She plans to continue mushing and hopes to someday race the Iditarod.
Isaac Redington has family ties to Iditarod and Jr. Iditarod that go WAY back. He’s a 4th generation musher. Isaac’s great-grandfather, Joe Redington, Sr., dreamed of bringing both the sled dog and the Iditarod Trail that serviced the gold mining camps of the early 1900’s back to life. A long distance sled dog race that used the trail was his answer. Issacs’s grandfathers on both sides of the family are Iditarod finishers plus a couple of great uncles, his father and two of his father’s brothers and the total combined races for previous generations is 69. Isaac is the nephew of 2023 Champion Ryan Redington. Isaac, age 16, lives in Wasilla and is a sophomore at Redington Jr/Sr High School. He is a veteran of the Willow 100, Goose Bay 150, the Knik 100 and 200, the Solo Sweepstakes and the Jr. Iditarod where he finished 5th as a rookie earning rookie of the year honors followed by third in 2024. During the current race season he’s placed 4th in the Knik 100, 7th in the Knik 200 and 4th in the Willow Jr. 100. In his spare time, Isaac enjoys hunting, fishing, trapping and playing football. After high school, he plans to continue mushing.
Ben Harper will serve as the race marshal for the coming Jr. Iditarod. Harper is a Jr. Iditarod veteran as well as an Iditarod veteran. He was born in Texas, grew up in Washington state then moved to Alaska in 2011 at the age of 14. When he arrived in Alaska, he met Ray Redington, Jr. and began mushing. In his first Jr. Iditarod run he claimed 3rd place, followed by 4th place then in 2014 he earned 2nd place and received the humanitarian award for exceptional canine care. In 2015, he entered Iditarod at the age of 18. It was a snow starved year so the race moved north to Fairbanks where there was plenty of snow but extremely cold temperatures. Harper finished his rookie run in 11 days, 16 hours and 28 minutes claiming 36th place out of 66 finishers in the 78 musher field. In serving as race marshal, Harper is doing what so many Jr. Iditarod mushers have done – give back to the Jr. Iditarod by supporting the race with their time and talents.
Longtime Jr. Iditarod volunteer, Terry Langholz, age 73, passed away in June of 2024. He was an iron worker, mason, commercial fisherman and was skilled in many aspects of construction. He had a knack for restoring old vehicles and 4-wheelers. During the winter he gave his time to the Jr. Iditarod and Knik Trailblazers working on the trail crew – breaking, grooming and marking for the Jr. Iditarod as well as the Knik 100 and 200 races. He was the perennial started for the Jr. Iditarod and with his megaphone and booming voice was heard over Knik Lake – “15 minutes! 10 minutes! 2 minutes! followed by the countdown to zero and then GO! Then he was at the finish line to check the Jr. mushers off the trail. Langholz served as a checker for the Iditarod when it went through Knik. Terry was honorary musher for the 2012 Jr. Iditarod and was a lifetime and board member of the Knik Iditarod Trail Blazers. Langholz was a talented man who gave generously of his time helping friends, the Jr. Iditarod and the Knik Trail Blazers. He’ll be fondly remembered and genuinely missed.
Come back tomorrow to meet the three year Jr. Iditarod veterans. There’s a record on the line in the 2025 Jr. Iditarod! Can one of these three year veterans claim the title of the winningest Jr. Iditarod Musher? Time will tell.
