Iditarod Picnic and Musher Sign Ups

Saturday marked the unofficial start of the race season as volunteers and mushers gathered in Wasilla for the annual Iditarod picnic at the Race Headquarters. Unlike previous years, the picnic was sparsely attended by fans and mushers alike. Normally one could guarantee bumping into the biggest names of North American mushing past and present. Names like Dick Mackey, Raymie Redington, and Dan Seavey were a shoo in for the "old timers" who came to swap stories with each other (almost always the same trail stories they've shared for nearly fifty years), while names like Jeff King, Martin Buser, and Mitch Seavey kept people guessing if the "old dogs" had another win in them.

Instead, only one previous champion signed up Saturday - and did so via the web from a beach somewhere warm. Only 21 teams in total would be on the roster by the end of the day. While those in attendance joked that the low attendance of mushers would give those signing up a greater chance to win their entry fee back, there was a definite air of uncertainty about the event.

Also noticeably absent was Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach. Since joining the Iditarod in 2018, Urbach has attended every public event. The enthusiastic leader often hyped up the next season promising new ways to jump into the 21st century. Yet this year it was once again Chaz St. George as the face of the Iditarod at the event, and he quickly just thanked attendees before breezing through the musher drawings without going through the traditional announcement of number of sign ups and reading down the list.

Discussion of the day was obviously the lack of those signing up. Karin Hendrickson attended the picnic but did not sign up with a sigh suggesting there were too many unknowns for her to be sure she'd race this season. Hendrickson also pointed to financial insecurity being a big reason for a lot of teams. She was overheard saying that she knew of "at least" five kennels "getting out of dogs" because they could not afford to continue to keep up a kennel.

2018 Iditarod Champion Joar Leifseth Ulsom did not attend the picnic, but as the event rolled on those checking Facebook read the announcement the Norwegian made stating he was stepping back from long distance racing to focus on his "beautiful little family" and figuring out the "elusive Kuskokwim 300 win." Both five-time Iditarod Champion Dallas Seavey and Iditafan favorite Aaron Burmeister announced at the end of this year's race they, too, are taking time off for family both having children getting to the age of having their own interests outside of dad running Iditarod.

Iditarod 50 was a huge accomplishment for the race, and while fans felt that the race did not do enough to celebrate the milestone, it feels like this is a new wave for the race as a whole. It may be fitting that so many of the mushers that made the last fifty years memorable are absent at the beginning of the next fifty. It's clear that the race has changed a great deal from when Joe Redington and his merry band of mushing enthusiasts came up with the hairbrained idea that dogs could travel a thousand miles over an overgrown yet historic trail system. Today it's a streamlined machine of a race that travels in almost a blink of an eye.

Even with the quieter picnic, there were still many smiles and reasons to laugh and celebrate. With so few mushers needing their Iditarod picture for their website bios, Official Photographer (who is "retired" but still on hand to help) Jeff Schultz was mobbed several times by race fans asking for autographs to sign his work. Kristy Berington and Andy Pohl rode through the picnic on their tandem bike before returning a little while later with Anna to sign the Seeing Double racing kennel teams up for another go (Andy, of course, was there to take the photos). 

Jason Mackey was so excited to be able to sign up again that he showed up well before sign ups opened at 9:30am. The team that [wo]man the table said he was there before they showed up to set things up. Mackey, of course, is hoping to keep the family tradition of winning the Iditarod alive. Mackey's father Dick won the Iditarod, and then Jason's brothers Rick and Lance are also Iditarod champions. If Mackey draws bib number 13 at the musher's banquet this year you might as well just give him the win (Dick, Rick, and Lance all won their [in Lance's case first] Iditarods with the number).

Matthew Failor and Dan Kaduce both signed up - in part because they won a free entry fee for being the "Most Inspirational" (Matt) and winner of the "Humanitarian Award" (Dan). Liz Failor was on hand to snap photos of husband Matthew as well as give tips to KattiJo Deeter on how to fill out her application. That's right, last year's rookie who got stuck in a terrible storm and ended up scratching, KattiJo (who explained that it's "Katie Jo" but that her mother "was a terrible speller") Deeter is returning for another go at the belt buckle. Deeter proclaimed she would be very jealous if she hit that portion of trail and it was calm as "the first time rookies won't have to go through [what she did]!" Deeter was also having a hard time coming up with an answer for her occupation and her hobbies. There were plenty of peanut gallery members to help her out, however. Husband Jeff was on hand to swipe the credit card. 

At this time, only one team from Black Spruce Kennel will run this coming Iditarod. Jeff noted that the logistics "back home" are just too much with the both of them out on the trail and that when he races KattiJo "takes care of so much". He didn't say 100% absolutely not that he wouldn't run, but did stick to "at this time" there were no plans to run two teams like they did in 2022.

Overall, while the roster is Yukon Quest roster sized, fans should expect it to grow some before the end of the year (when the deadline to sign up is). There should be a lot of excitement as many of the teams that are often knocking on the door to get into the top ten will have a great chance of improving (in some cases drastically). Will Brent Sass be able to hold off the teams ready to make sure he doesn't repeat? Who has the best chance of taking home the prize? Those questions are being asked far too soon. The better question is - who do you think has plans to sign up but wants to keep us guessing for now?

To see all of my photos from the day you can view my facebook album.

Make sure to subscribe to Mushing Radio's podcasts as we'll be talking this week all about the Iditarod picnic and what it all means for the future of The Last Great Race.

Mushing Radio: Who are you, Toni Reitter?

Yukon Board responds to Alaskan Board's 2023 Quest Press Release

Yesterday a press release was issued that caused a stir in the long-distance mushing community when the Alaskan Board of Directors for the Yukon Quest announced that the race as we have come to know it is no more. As with most splits, the reasons are all he said she said, but the reason given last night was that the Yukon Board "would not budge" on their proposed rule changes. Now that board is coming out saying that's simply not the case. You can read the Anchorage Daily News article shared last night here. Below is the statement posted on Facebook today by Yukon Board President Susan Rogan:

The Yukon board became aware of this Alaskan board press release this morning when our ED received a phone call from the Fairbanks News Miner. They were gracious enough to send us a copy so we could discuss the contents of it for their news article. The press release was created and sent out unilaterally by the Alaskan Board and ED with zero knowledge of it or involvement on behalf of the Yukon board. 

There is a false statement that needs to be dealt. That being that the Yukon Board refuses to have a race without significant changes. In fact, the Yukon Board agreed to support a 1000 mile Yukon Quest International Race in 2023, with exactly the same rules as in 2020. And this was what the Alaskan board wanted. 

We agreed to put the trail in to the border as usual, to organize the start banquet, start line, and checkpoints as per usual. We agreed to share the facebook page, website, etc. all as per usual. 

There were two items the Alaskans did not like. One was that the Yukon board stated that we would raise the purse for the shorter races, while the Alaskans would be responsible for the purse for the 1000 mile race. The other was that we wanted to run the shorter races according to our format with mandatory rest. It was the Yukon's turn to host the 300. Both boards had agreed with the idea of having 2 or 3 shorter races in order to involve more mushers and develop their skills with an eye to them being feeder races for the Yukon Quest. 

The Alaskan board however, decided that the Yukon would host a 300 mile race, according to the 2020 rules. 

The Alaskan board also announced in the meeting last Friday that they had held a meeting with the Rules Committee that day, without inviting the Yukon Board or letting us know about it. They said the Rules Committee had already passed a decree that there would be NO RULE CHANGES, for the 2023 race. (Even though we had discussed previously that both sides had a few housekeeping issues they'd like addressed.) FYI, the 'Rules Committee' has no Yukon members, and one of the RC members sits on the Alaskan board, in fact is one of the two board members on the negotiating team. Anyway, the Alaskan team said the Rules Committee had already ruled that they would not change any rules, so no changes would happen. And we as the board asking for changes, need 3 votes of four on the negotiating team to change anything, which we won't have, so no changes would happen through this route either. That my friends is how it went down. 

The Alaskan board concluded their negotiation by adding, 'the Yukon side pays for half of everything', (refering to the purse I presume), and the final insult, 'the Yukon Quest is an Alaskan race, originally organized by Alaskans, and will continue in Alaska...'

The Yukon delegation stated that the existing Yukon board would not agree to this proclamation by the Alaska board, and that it was a surprise to us but we were prepared for it. I said this was not a negotiation. It was 100% what the Alaskan Board wanted, not one inch was given toward the ideas of the Yukon Board. We added that this was not done in good faith. (secret meeting with the rules committee included.) The negotiations were concluded, there was nothing more to discuss. 

The Yukon delegation said we would have a special meeting on the Yukon side to ask our membership if they would like to work with Alaska in putting on the 2023 race according to their sole wishes. If our membership voted 'yes', then we would ask them to step forward to form a board and do the work. If they voted 'no' and therefore to have separate races, then we would have to talk about where to from here. (Just for this year? Permanently? Have a race at all? Dissolve the organization? Who gets what? name, logos etc.)

This morning, before becoming aware of the Alaskan 'press release', we sent an email to the Alaskan board asking them to confirm 'what we heard' - and we itemized the contents of the meeting. We asked them to correct anything we got wrong. We went on to say we should work together in a spirit if dignity, honesty and respect, to honour the Yukon Quest and all of our stakeholders past and present. Having a public feud serves no one. And yet, here we are. 

To be clear: The Yukon Board agreed to support the 2023, 1000 mile race according to the 2020 / existing rules. We AGREED to the rules and structure that the Alaskan board wanted. We never pulled an ultimatum. We said the existing board members would resign. We said we did not have the power to make a decision not to have a 1000 mile race, we would have to put it to our membership in a special meeting. 

The only point of disagreement was the Alaskan board insisted that we would run the shorter races that we alone were hosting, the way the Alaskan board wanted it run. And they probably still had the feeling that we should pay half the purse for the 1000 as is normal, though that did not specifically come up. 

These are the facts. I have the 'sent messages' to the Alaskan board to prove it if necessary.

The Yukon board has still not had a single phone call or email from the Alaskan board, not even a copy of the press release. It was given out to everyone BUT the Yukon board.

The Yukon Board objects to the way this 'press release' was handled. The reputation of the Yukon Quest and our stakeholders, deserved better. We do however feel that at this point, it is important to be clear about what the Yukon board said. 

Susie Rogan, President of the YQIA (Yukon Board) 

Bonnie Michaudville

Executive Director

It remains to be seen just what this will mean come February for "the other" premiere long distance race in Alaska, but by the looks of it, the Yukon Quest as we know it is gone for good. 

Just one team remains on the trail of the Kobuk 440

It will be several hours before the red lantern finishes in the 2022 Kobuk 440 (close to five hours to go unless they pick up the pace), but Kotzebue are excited to cheer the musher in. Jim Bourquin should finish around 6:30pm Alaska Time tonight, which means he will most likely be late to the Awards dinner (and miss the musher meeting). 

Bourdin is a transplant from Washington State, when he moved up in 2009 to work with Iditarod musher John Baker. He ran his first Kobuk 440 in 2010. 

This will conclude the major mid and long distance mushing season in Alaska. Teams are already prepping for some dryland races scheduled to take place later this year, while many are gearing up for a Summer Tourist season on glaciers. It's been a fantastic season, comment below with your favorite moments!

Neff wins Kobuk 440 two minutes ahead of Diehl

 In a near photo finish, Hugh Neff driving the Northern White Kennel dogs, came into the finish in Kotzebue just two minutes ahead of Richie Diehl this morning. Neff's win comes after a "forced scratch" in the 2022 Iditarod when officials and veterinarians grew concerned that the pace he set for his team was not conducive for the team's wellbeing. Neff came to the Kobuk with something to prove, and it looks like he has. 

Richie Diehl nearly took the win after starting last night with a one hour deficit to make up against the former Yukon Quest champion. Diehl ate up miles and time throughout the night to come within two minutes of placing ahead of Neff. Diehl told the Kobuk 440 volunteers at the finish that he was "Tired. Long night chasing down Hugh. Almost, but not quite." 

Neff's team definitely slowed as he made the last leg into the finish, which is to be expected when the team took the lead day one and held it throughout the entire race. Breaking trail, keeping a top speed, it all takes it out of the team - even the best prepared ones. Diehl held back early in the race before picking his way and managing a solid top three. Diehl made his move overnight to try and take the championship, and it nearly paid off. While Neff's team looked like they were ready to be done, Diehl's team came charging into the finish all pulling hard and tails up and wagging. Diehl should be very proud of what he accomplished.

Teams will continue coming into Kotzebue for the next 24 hours or so. Next in line should be Eddie Burke, Jr. who is about six miles from the finish so in under the next hour. He'll be followed by Ryan Redington.

Kobuk 440 is LIVE

Diehl trying to chase down Neff

While most of us were sleeping, Richie Diehl made his move over night and has pretty much negated the one hour lead Hugh Neff had on the team from Aniak. Only two to three miles separate the two teams with about 5 miles until the finish. It's unlikely that Neff loses this one, but it's always a possibility that when a team is driven hard from start to finish they don't quite make it to the finish. Still with only five miles to go the musher and his team of all white, all female, Alaskan Huskies should be able to keep the Real Diehl team at bay.

Now is a good time to get over the Kobuk 440 Facebook page as they will most likely go live as the teams approach Kotzebue. 

Holmes, Early scratch - trackers to remain active

Holmes scratches from Kobuk 440

Fans were buzzing early this morning when they noticed one of the front runners, Jessie Holmes, was still in Ambler while the rest of the race had seemed to continue on without him. Speculation went in a miriad of directions until about 11am Alaska time when the race posted a simple statement on their social media accounts. Holmes had scratched. Team was safe in Ambler. No more information at this time.

Holmes was running well up until the time of his stop in Ambler making a case for his team to possibly take the top prize if he could stick with Neff and keep Redington behind. With few reports coming from the race above the Arctic Circle we can really only go by what we saw on the GPS. Speeds were pretty steady, however we all know speed is a fine line in dog mushing. Push too hard too long, even in shorter races, and some teams just can't hack it. According to Nic Petit - who is following the race from home and commenting on his own social media page - Jessie's team was showing signs of stiffness (possibly due to the cold temps and hard trail). Petit reports that Holmes' team will be making its own way back to Kotzebue.

There are still thirteen teams on the trail as of Saturday morning. 

Ryan Redington is LIVE at the Kobuk 440