Norris, Honda and Davis Sled into McGrath (Photo by Dave Poyzer)
Thursday morning finds “flurries” on the Iditarod trail. First a “flurry” of activity and second the snow type and that’s actually much heavier than “flurries” might suggest. Mushers are coming off the required 24-hour rest and are moving on the trail. Weather forecasts call for heavy snow from McGrath and points north including Cripple and Ruby. There’s even some mention of freezing rain but there is good news. Once this storm system passes, the temperatures will drop into the perfect range for mushing, at least according to sled dog standards.
Unfortunately It’s a little difficult to get information on the mushers in the back of the pack because the Insider crew is allocating most of its resources to those racing for Iditarod gold. But with a little digging I can keep up with the group of people Eye on the Trail was created for, the back of the pack.
After the arduous sledding to Nikolai, a trio of mushers all departed Nikolai just before 20:00 on Wednesday. They are traveling together to McGrath located at mile 311 on the South Fork of the Kuskokwim River. The river winds back and forth creating many oxbows as it meanders through the Alaskan Wilderness. The trail alternates running on the river and through the forest to achieve a more direct route of 48 miles.
Anja Radano Completes Rookie Run in 2018 in 51st Place (Photo Credit Terrie Hanke
Scratched musher, Anja Radano, remains in Nikolai until her team is transported to the hub of McGrath by Iditarod Air Force pilots. With 12 dogs in harness, Radano made the decision to scratch in the best interest of her race team. Radano has completed the race in 2018 and 2019. Anja had to adjust her race in 2019 after crashing in the Dalzell Gorge. She broke a rib and injured her leg. By resting more and taking it a little slower she was able to claim 35th place in Nome. Anja always wears a big smile and is eager to share comments about her run. She loves to travel with her dogs and enjoys the time they have together on the trail.
Anja was born and raised in a village near Munich, Germany. She earned her degree in nursing and worked in the profession for 10 years. But then, after a visit to Alaska, she fell in love with the state. She returned a year later to begin her mushing career as a handler for Melanie Gould. Within four years, Anja started her own kennel, training and breeding dogs from a variety of bloodlines. Early on, Radano focused on mid-distance racing but decided to pursue her Iditarod dream. After arriving in the United States, Anja went to vet tech school and is working as a licensed veterinary technician in Talkeetna where she lives.
The trio of mushers heading to McGrath includes veterans Lisbet Norris and Yuka Honda along with rookie Kailyn Davis. Their stories range from growing up in a mushing family, to simply loving dogs and watching Iditarod on television to learning about Iditarod in 5th grade.
Lisbet Norris in McGrath (Photo by Dave Poyzer)
Lisbet Norris who runs purebred Siberian Huskies is making her fourth trip to Nome. She has finished the race in 2014 (48th), 2015 (49th) and 2016 (65th). Lisbet’s grandparents, Earl and Natalie Norris are icons and legends in the world of Iditarod and Siberian Huskies. From her race guide bio, “For over seventy years the primary focus of the kennel has been to preserve and promote the original function and appearance of the Siberian Husky as a sled dog. The line of dogs produced by Alaskan Kennels are known as Anadyr Siberians. Lisbet and her family are committed to maintaining the workability of the Siberian Husky and believe that participating in sled dog races, both sprint and distance, is the best way to benchmark the breed.”
The Norris family has fielded a team in Iditarod every decade since the start of the race. Lisbet says she is honored to represent Alaskan Kennels and the family in the 50th running of Iditarod. Alaskan Kennels is the oldest Siberian Husky Kennel in the world.
Lisbet has a degree in Northern Studies and History from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She operates Arctic Dog Adventure Company out of Fairbanks, an ecotourism company with the goal of that focuses on educating guests about sustainable travel by dog team, ski and foot.
Yuka Honda in McGrath (Photo by Dave Poyzer)
Yuka Honda, Bib #49, finished her first Iditarod in 2015 in 55th place with a time of 12 days, 8 hours and 32 minutes. She’s not a stranger to long distance racing as she’s also finished the Yukon Quest as a training run for Iditarod.
Honda was born and raised in Japan. She notes that her family loved dogs and we always had dogs. After studying agricultural physics at Japan university, she worked a rice field readjustment job then taught math and physics. While at university, she traveled to Yellowknife, YT to view the northern lights. Where there are northern lights, there are also sled dogs and sled dog races. She was amazed at how happy the sled dogs were. She said, “I didn’t think dogs like to pull. My dog in Japan was lazy.”
Then in 1998 she moved to the Yukon Territory in Canada and took a job as a dog handler. After watching the Iditarod on television she began dreaming of running the race. Honda established Ginga Express Kennel with bloodlines from Zirkle, Burmeister and Holmes. She considers the dogs in her kennel to be family. Yuka has since moved her kennel to Healy, Alaska.
In her rookie Iditarod run, Yuka finished in 55th place with a time of 12 days 8 hours and 32 minutes. That year there was a musher on the trail, but not Yuka, who used a “Honda” theme for naming a litter of pups. The mother’s name was Honda and her pups were named Civic and Prelude.
Kailyn Davis in McGrath (Photo by Dave Poyzer)
The third member of the trio is Kailyn Davis. She found her way to Iditarod through an innovative teacher who used Iditarod as a theme for education. Kailyn holds bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Geology but has most recently taught high school math in Fairbanks. She is running Wade Marrs dogs from Stump Jumpin’ Kennel.
Davis is the recipient of the Flyin Ryan Hawks Adventure Scholarship. The Scholarship helped Davis prepare and qualify for races to qualify for Iditarod. Completing 750 miles of qualifying races in good standing is a requirement for the Iditarod. Davis completed the Copper Basin 300 twice and the Goose Bay 150.
Davis has worked with many mushers in her quest to become the best musher she can be. She is a guide at Trail Breaker Kennel run by David Monson. Since the age of 17, she’s worked with Christine Roalofs and has run Roalofs and Al Eischens dogs for her qualifiers.
That’s some information about the people in the back of the pack. Comeback later today for a recap of what’s taking place further toward the front end of the 50th Iditarod.
