To round out the eleven musher field for the 2026 Jr. Iditarod we’ll meet two first year veterans and a pair of third year veterans. Again, some come from mushing families and some came to mushing through family friendships. Their trial to the trail is sometime fortuitous and always unique.
First year veteran, Hazel Sutton, age 16, from 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. As a 2025 rookie, the 150 mile Jr. Iditarod was the longest race she’d attempted. She placed 11th and earned Rookie of the Year honors. Sutton has competed in the T-Dog, Junior North American Champions (JNAC), the Solstice Relay and the Willow Jr. 100. Along with running dogs, Hazel enjoys cross-country skiing, bird watching, running, hiking reading and listening to music. As a sophomore at West Valley High in Fairbanks, Hazel is contemplating a degree in biology fieldwork and fully intends to continue mushing. Recently Hazel finished the Willow Jr. 100 in 8th place.
Torlief Bentzen, age 17, is another first year veteran. Finishing in 18th place, Bentzen’s rookie Iditarod run was in 2024 with dogs from Re-Run Kennel. He also did the Solstice 50 in 2024. He’s been mushing for much longer than his racing career suggests. His first mushing experience was at the age of three thanks to a family friend. He’s been running dogs ever since. Since working with the Re-Run dogs, he’s put together his own team and has run the Yukon Quest 80 and the T-Dog 100 in 2025. Now he’s excited to run his Whiskey Jack dogs in the T-Dog 100, Quest 80 and Jr. Iditarod in 2026. In preparation for the 2026 Jr. Iditarod, Bentzen captured 6th place in the 2026 Quest 80. Torlief enjoys camping, hunting and carving. While he hasn’t settled on a career path, he intends to stay on the trail with his dogs in the future.
Keira Irish, age 17, came to mushing through a dog powered but sled-less sport – Skijoring. Shortly after that first experience on skies with dogs in 2019, she began to mush. Her mushing career took off behind rescue dogs from ReRun Kennel. Keira’s first racing experience, the Solstice 50, in 2022 was with dogs from ReRun under the mentorship of Iditarod veteran, Kailyn Davis. In 2023, Kiera took the ReRuns to the Jr. Iditarod where she finished in 11th place. Beginning in 2024 Keira has run dogs from Trail Breaker Kennel established by David Monson and Susan Butcher. Keira has earned two consecutive 8th place finishes in the 2024 and 2025 Jr. Iditarod. She was honored in 2025 with the Humanitarian award. A year ago, Keira claimed 4th place in the Yukon Quest 80 mile race. This year she was crowned the Yukon Quest 80 mile Champion. She’s also run the T-Dog 110 as well as the Two river’s 100. Keira is a guide at Trail Breaker Kennel. She’s participated in Taekwondo since the age of 3 and now holds a black belt. Keira enjoys skijoring, kayaking, playing flag football, biking and hiking. As a senior, Keira is dual enrolled at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks and University of Alaska – Fairbanks. Upon high school graduation, Keira will continue at UAF in Wildlife Biology with the hope of someday running the Iditarod.
Isaac Redington, age 17, 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., established the Iditarod. Issacs’s grandfathers on both sides of the family are Iditarod finishers then add a couple of great uncles, his father and two of his father’s brothers. The total combined races for previous generations of the Flodin and Redington families is 67. Isaac’s Jr. Iditarod family tree includes his parents Julia (Flodin) and Ray Redington, his grandmother Barb Redington and several uncles on both sides of the family. Uncle Dan Flodin earned Jr. Iditarod gold in 1988 and uncle Ryan Redington captured Jr. gold in 1999 and 2000. Isaac’s parents met during the 1991 Jr. Iditarod. There’s no lack of mushing mentors for Isaac! As an 11th grader at Redington Jr/Sr High located in the Knik area, Isaac enjoys hunting, fishing and trapping. He’s a veteran of the Willow Jr. 100, Knik 100, Knik 200, Solo Sweepstakes, Goose Bay 150 and the Jr. Iditarod. He earned the Jr. Iditarod Rookie of the Year award in 2023 with 5th place. In 2024 he improved to 3rd place then in 2025 in earned runner-up honors behind champion Emily Robinson. Isaac hopes to continue his assent of the Jr. Iditarod ladder in 2026. Thus far, his 2026 racing accomplishments include 21st in the Copper Basin 300, 4th in the Knik 200 and third in the Willow Jr. 100, placing behind Thale Randall and Stanley Robinson who are both set to run the 2026 Jr. Iditarod. After high school he intends to enroll at the University of Alaska – Anchorage. He plans to follow in the family tradition and continue mushing.
There you have it. You’ve met all of the Jr. racers. The Jr. Iditarod will begin on Saturday February 28th at 10:00 am. The teams will gather on Knik Lake at mile 13.5 of Knik-Goose Bay Road. The action will commence at 8:00 am when the teams will park in a semi-circle behind the start banner. The dogs will be unloaded from the trucks and get breakfast before the race. The GPS Trackers will be distributed. Soon it will be time to boot and harness then hook up. That’s when the dogs get over the moon excited and there’s a loud chorus of barking from exuberant sled dogs waiting to do what they love best – running and pulling with their pack. If you can’t be there in person, check the Jr. Iditarod Facebook page and follow the teams down the trail through GPS tracker at www.jriditarod.org.
