People, Places, or Dogs
It’s Unalakleet in 2013, Aily Zirkle is preparing to depart for Shaktoolik. She is applying paw cream and booting her dogs. In this photo, Olivia enjoys Aliy’s complete attention. That’s the gist of what’s going on in this picture but take a closer look. Zoom in! As Aliy applies that wonderful pink paw goop, …
Who is this legendary musher? He’s run Iditarod thirteen times. In those thirteen races, he’s finished in the top ten eight times and has scratched only twice. His first race was in 1992. In his rookie run he claimed 43rd place with a time of 14 days, 4 hours and 12 minutes. He sat out …
Only twice in the 39 year history of JR Iditarod has the start been moved from the traditional location of somewhere between Knik and Willow. Like Iditarod, the JR race relocated in 2003 due to warm conditions and lack of snow. That year the Iditarod started from Fairbanks and the JR Iditarod started in Glenallen. …
In 2005, Martin Buser wasn’t shaking hands with fans at the Ceremonial Start. Note that his right hand is mittened and elevated. Only four days before the start of Iditarod, Martin reconfigured his index finger on a table saw. The medically correct term would be “partial amputation.” Martin underwent surgery and was advised by his …
There are so many contributors to The Last Great Race®, it would be an impossible feat to make an accurate list. People contribute in the most incredible ways. It’s not just helping the mushers or the dogs, it’s also helping the volunteers. Contributing toward the well being of the volunteers certainly comes full circle back …
Alan Eischens has been involved with the sport of mushing for more than 30 years. Over that time, he’s served as a race official and checkpoint volunteer. In 2012 he established Double EE kennel in Wasilla. He’s done a sled load of qualifying races and participated in his first Iditarod or perhaps we should say …
The Iditarod family says goodbye to a dear friend and race volunteer, Norma Delia. Norma passed away on March 12th, day seven of Iditarod XLIV. Norma and Joe (also deceased) lived in Skwentna for most of their married life and made their homestead available to the Iditarod for use as a checkpoint. Both Norma and …
Unalakleet is a village of about 700 people located on the Bering Sea. It marks one end of the portage trail that leads to the Yukon River used for trading in the 1800s by the Russians, the local natives and interior natives. Unalakleet is known for its wind. As a matter of fact, the …
The order of business for Saturday at McGrath was moving people to new locations and new assignments. I’m moving to Unalakleet, the first village on the Bering Sea. From all information we can see through race stats, Insider and GPS Tracker it would appear the Brent Sass will collect the First to the Gold Coast …
This morning (Monday) teams are passing through Finger Lake Checkpoint. Nicholas Petit was the first team to arrive at 0334. Hugh Neff was on his heals. They’ve had a busy morning there. Thirteen mushers are on their way to Rainy Pass and roughy 30 are resting on the lake in front of Winterlake Lodge. The …
