Today I spoke with Robert Redington to see what he is doing now that the 2016 Iditarod race season has wrapped up. Right now he is in Juneau running sled dog teams for Alaska Excursions Dog Sled Discovery and Musher’s Camp. That keeps him busy from May through September.  He has 30 “pups” there with him, including Tuffy – we met Tuffy in Robert’s pre-race Insider video.  French Fry, also in the video, might be running at headquarters this summer with  Robert’s dad, Raymie.

If he has free time and the weather is right, Robert loves to skateboard.  He and friends head down to the skate park in Juneau together and practice their moves.  One Robert especially likes to do is a nollie kickflip.

I asked him a bit about last year’s race, his first.  Although on the trail with his brothers Ray and Ryan, he didn’t see them much. Robert caught up with Ryan a bit in Cripple and then again in Nikolai, but Ray was running a different race and they didn’t really see each other on the trail.  Speaking of the trail, Robert mused about the Dalzell Gorge, about what an adrenaline rush it was and that it was  “a lot of fun”! And the Happy River steps? He thought “They weren’t that bad. They could have been worse.” And he really loved that the river from Nikolai to McGrath was “downhill”.  Overall, Robert said his race was great and he had a lot of fun.

He scratched in Galena because his team wasn’t 100%.  The captain of his team had a sore shoulder and a bad bug spread through his team.

But, if sponsors rally for him, Robert plans to run again next year. Says he has a nice young team.  So here’s to you, Robert! We hope to see you again soon in the race.