No Iditarod for Cindy Abbott this year

Cindy Abbott took to her social media platforms yesterday to announce that she was not signing up for Iditarod 46. Siting personal and health reasons, Abbott assured her fans that she was taking care of herself.



Abbott is a red lantern Iditarod finisher, as well as a spokesperson and hero for many fighting incurable, little-talked about diseases. Cindy was diagnosed with Wegener's Granulomatosis in August of 2007, instead of curling up in a ball in a corner, she set about taking life by the horns. She has successfully climbed Mount Everest, and then fixed her sites on the Iditarod. It took her 3 rookie tries to complete the race in 2015 (one year she scratched after breaking her pelvis and several other bones and not realizing it!) where she won her first of two red lanterns. The Red Lantern is awarded to the final team to cross the finish line.

After retiring from her job last year, Cindy and her husband moved to Alaska with the intent on her running the 2018 Iditarod and other future races. Cindy cites in her post that her husband was supportive of her plan to run this year, and the decision to not run was solely hers. Abbott runs dogs from Iditarod Veteran - and current MatSu Burrough Mayor - Vern Halter's Kennel. She will continue to train the team, but a little less intensely, building them for 2019.

Abbott stated in her post that she intends to run the 2019 Iditarod, where she will be 60 years old.

You can purchase Cindy's book Reaching Beyond The Clouds: From Undiagnosed To Climbing Mt. Everest on Amazon.com.