Weekly Mushing News Round Up (July 6)

The mushing news round ups were popular last year, so I'm going to do my best to do this again. Starting much earlier this year as last year. Some mushers have already given some great tidbits into their summer and future racing plans, so let's get a run down of some of the top stories of the week.

Brent Sass broke radio silence this week to announce his return to competitive mushing. Announcing his plans to sign up for the 2019 Yukon Quest on his website, Sass said the break during the 2018 season was just what he and his team needed. Sass had a rough couple of race years with a disqualification in the 2015 Iditarod after he used a piece of technology that in that race year was a banned tool (two way communication technology is now allowed). Sass again had trouble in 2016 when he pushed his dogs a little too hard in his attempt to win the Last Great Race, his team stalled in White Mountain. Sass went on to come in 20th. In 2017 Sass scratched from the Yukon Quest just 150 miles from the finish when two of his dogs collapsed, reportedly without warning. Sass believed it was due to a genetic issue within his team's bloodlines. He withdrew from Iditarod and seemingly disappeared from the racing scene. It will be interesting to see if the Quest Champion will be able to rebound from his unlucky streak.

Matt Failor announced on his team's facebook page that he would have a second string of dogs running in Iditarod under the careful guide of Michael Baker. Baker first ran the Iditarod in 2017, and is returning to run again. This brings the roster of Iditarod mushers up to 29 for the 2019 race. Baker placed 58th in his Iditarod rookie run.

Paul Gebhardt is still recovering from his battle with cancer - and all news has been positive on that front. Gebhardt was diagnosed less than a year ago, missed the racing season, and let most of his team be leased to other mushers - specifically Ray Redington. Gebhardt underwent Stem Cell treatment in early spring, and is now back on the Kenai Peninsula working at the kennel and at his construction business. On July 4th his kennel posted a quick update on their facebook page.


Speaking of the Fourth of July, the annual Mt Marathon race in Seward, Alaska saw several mushers (current and former) hit the trail. Dallas Seavey, Travis Beals, Conway Seavey all ran the course, as well as Tekla Seavey - who, okay, isn't a musher but she married into mushing "royalty"... and she beat Dallas and Conway's times so... I had to rub it in. Girl power!


Jeff Deeter gave a look into life off grid last week (and since I didn't do a news round up last week, I'm going to share this one here). Deeter was one of two mushers who won their entry fee back at the Iditarod sign ups last Saturday, so I'm sure it will go to good use around the kennel in other ways.



The Yukon Quest is gearing up for their musher sign ups. The kick off is August 4th on both sides of the border. Check out their facebook page and website for full details.

Blair Braverman, who last week signed up for her rookie run on the Iditarod, shares a lot of great glimpses into kennel life on twitter, and one of the most heartwarming was most definitely her "bedtime story for sled dog pups" that she gave July 5. Be sure to click the link and follow the thread. You won't regret it.

Once upon a time, I told them, there were some very good puppies. They had a grandfather named Hari, and Hari was magic. pic.twitter.com/n72bAnjKMq

— Blair Braverman (@BlairBraverman) July 6, 2018

Mushing News Weekly Round Up (Dec 15)

Another week has flown by, and there's been another week of reports and articles from the mushing community! Here are the highlights I felt needed documentation and comment.


Iditarod once again announced that it is looking at increasing security within checkpoints and the trail. This is in response to the outcry started by Dallas Seavey after it was found that Seavey's dogs tested for drugs banned by the race. Seavey maintains that he did not administer the drugs at any time to any of his team during the race, and the Iditarod Trail Committee says they have found no proof suggesting that the musher doped his dogs. Seavey and other Iditarod veterans campaigned for better security for the race as there's speculation now that a third party tampered with dogs' well-being. The Iditarod also let it be known that they are working on re-wording the "gag rule", which mushers have asked for since its inception three years ago.

The Alpine Creek Excursion Sled Dog Race took place over the weekend. While not an Iditarod or Yukon Quest qualifier, it's a fun start to the racing season and many familiar faces were on the trail. The race is unique in that it does not set starting positions, and is based on the honor system as far as recording in and out times. It's a short race, but it sounds like it was a blast. Jessie Holmes came away with first out of 22 teams racing. Full stats can be found on their facebook page.



If you don't follow Blair Braverman on her quest to qualify for the Iditarod, then you're missing out. Blair is a columnist and a book author. Her best-selling book Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North has been well received by mushers and fans alike. Blair shared a little insight into the qualification process over the week when she shared the "musher report card" used by the Iditarod to qualify a rookie.

Montana's Race to the Sky's schedule is set for early February. The mid-distance race's main sponsor this year is the Essential Oil company Young Living - that name may sound familiar, they're the main sponsor of Iditarod Champion Mitch Seavey, too. There isn't too much updated info on their website or their social media for the 2018 race. Doesn't even look like they have a roster yet. But, hey, they have a schedule!



Iditarod Trail breakers are getting prepared to start putting in the trail. Looking out the window, at this point, I'd be very surprised if they don't head to Fairbanks again. Hoping for snow and colder temps so that they can once again run the traditional trail.


Iditarod Photographer Jeff Schultz has had a difficult year. This summer his son fell during a training exercise at his firehouse and has been in the hospital and recovery ever since dealing with a traumatic brain injury. All reports on his son Ben have been extremely positive, but it's still a long road to coming home. Jeff was in the middle of putting together his newest photo book: Icons of the Iditarod. He reported last night on facebook that the books are finally in his hands and are ready for shipping/order. I joined his kickstarter campaign because I wanted to see this project happen. His book Chasing Dogs is gorgeous! (I do not get a kickback for promoting his work.)
And now some of my favorites from social media:

Mushing News Weekly Round Up (Dec 8)

With the advent of social media, it's a whole lot easier for fans to immerse themselves into the mushing world. It's also easy to miss a lot of the interesting and newsworthy stuff as it seems to become overloaded in the weeks leading up to race season. Training reports begin as the leaves fall from the trees, and then almost over night the snow hits the rosters are finalized and we're in the middle of race season.

So a new feature here on Reitter's Block starting this week is a sort of weekly round up of news, and interesting stories from the mushing community. These will be selection that caught my eye, and in no way everything that happened within the week.



In response to the Iditarod Trail Committee's announcement on December 1 about their plan to come up with a standard of "Dog Care" for kennels to be eligible to compete, Iditarod Veteran Wade Marrs took to his website to share his thoughts. While, overall, Wade is supportive of the idea - he wanted to voice some concerns he had. It is equally a response to another kennel that has created a lot of drama since October when they decided to try and promote themselves as the kennel/people all mushers wish they could be like.

SP Kennel (Home of Aliy Zirkle and Allen Moore) shared an adorable update on their trio of pups. It's not really news worthy, but it's adorable, and there's video. What more does a mushing fan need than a puppy cam?!

Monday brought the amusing with the report that Jeff King was auctioned off during the Talkeetna Bachelor Auction, and brought in a whopping $4,600! King is thought to be the first Iditarod Champion (and certainly IS the only 4-time Champion) auctioned off at the event. Known as one of the larger than life mushers, it should come as no surprise that Jeff was up for something like this. But it was still amusing to read. Much better than the articles showing the mushing community up in arms.

And, just today, Monica Zappa took to Facebook to announce that the 2018 Iditarod will be her last "for a while" as she needs to go off on new adventures. Iditarod will be far less colorful without her neon colors out on the trail. So when you see her run down the trail this March, cheer extra hard for her!

Speaking of Facebook - my favorites on the social media round up: