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Veteran Alaska Musher First to Reach Iditarod Halfway Point

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A veteran Alaskan musher looking for his first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race victory became the first to reach the official halfway point late on Thursday, pulling into the trail’s northern most community.

Aaron Burmeister, 39, arrived in Huslia on the fourth night of this nearly 1,000-mile race, which commemorates a 1925 rescue mission that carried diphtheria serum by sled-dog relay to the coastal community of Nome.

Welcome signs and cheers greeted Burmeister in this largely native Alaskan village of fewer than 300 people that serves as a checkpoint in the famed race, now in its 43rd year.

Huslia became part of the trail when race officials designed an alternative route after deeming sections of the traditional trail unsafe for competition.

Iditarod blogger and former competitor Sebastian Schnuelle wrote on the Iditarod website that “the whole town seemed out and about” awaiting Burmeister. (Read more from “Veteran Alaska Musher First to Reach Iditarod Halfway Point” HERE)

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Warm Weather Forces Iditarod Race Farther North [+video]

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By Mark Thiessen. Much of the start of the world’s most famous sled dog race is covered in barren gravel, forcing Iditarod organizers to move the start farther north where there is snow and ice.

A weather pattern that buried the eastern U.S. in snow has left Alaska fairly warm and relatively snow-free this winter. . .

The nearly 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race starts Saturday with a ceremonial run through Anchorage. But the official start two days later has been moved 225 miles north, over the Alaska Range, to Fairbanks to avoid the area that left many mushers bruised and bloodied last year. Iditarod officials said the conditions are worse this year. (Read more about pushing the Iditarod race farther north HERE)


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Record Number of Women to Compete in 2015 Iditarod Race

By Ch2ktuu. In 1985, Libby Riddles was one of just 5 women out of 61 mushers to compete in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Today, 30 years after Riddles claimed the title, a record number of women — one-third of the field — are starting the race. KTUU’s Abby Hancock tells how times have changed.

(Read more from this story HERE)

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Original Musher from First Iditarod, Friend of Joe Redington, to Appear on The Joe Miller Show Next Week

One of twelve living mushers who completed the first Iditarod will be interviewed on The Joe Miller Show next week. Rod Perry has written a book on the race and also helped produce a successful documentary on it. The Joe Miller Show airs daily from 2 to 4 p.m. Alaska Time (6 to 8 p.m. EST).

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Dallas Seavey Pushes Through Windstorm to Win Iditarod (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bob HallinenNOME — Dallas Seavey came from behind to capture his second Iditarod championship in three years early Tuesday morning, mushing his team of seven dogs through a windstorm that knocked Jeff King out of the race and prompted Aliy Zirkle to hole up in Safety for more than two hours.

Seavey, 26, jogged beside his sled down Nome’s Front Street to help his dogs. At one point, he glanced over his shoulder, thinking his dad, defending champion Mitch Seavey, was gaining on him.

After crossing the finish line in record time at 4:04 a.m., Seavey sat on the back of his sled and leaned his head on his handlebar, exhausted.

“Dallas, did you think you could do this?” an Iditarod Insider videographer asked.

“What exactly did I do?”

“You just won the Iditarod, 2014.”

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Read more from this story HERE.

Message to PETA: Stay the Hell Out of Alaska

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From grieving the “enormous suffering” of dead fish to demanding that Honey Boo Boo rename Nugget, her pet chicken, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) seems to be pursuing an increasingly fringe agenda. The crazier the radical group becomes, the more it attempts to cram its animal rights agenda down throats of every American.

One of its latest campaigns is focused on Alaska’s Iditarod … again. This time, PETA complains that Iditarod volunteers and a Fairbanks musher should face criminal charges because her dog died while awaiting transport.

This unfortunate incident occurred after the musher’s dog was “dropped” at the Unalakleet checkpoint and the musher and her team continued on to Nome. A storm hit Unalakleet after the musher left. Iditarod volunteers then placed her dog, as well as a number of others that had been dropped, in an area protected from wind. Transportation for the dogs was delayed by the storm, several were buried by the snowfall, and the musher’s dog died.

Although there’s little doubt that Iditarod procedures can and should be improved to avoid this type of situation in the future, there’s absolutely no evidence of criminal intent by any Alaskan in the death of the dog.

But here’s the kicker: it was just disclosed this week that PETA, the same organization demanding criminal prosecution over the accidental death of a musher’s dog, hypocritically slaughtered 90% of the cats and dogs brought to one of its “rescue” facilities last year:

The charity, well-known for attention grabbing publicity campaigns such as the ‘I’d rather go naked’ anti-fur campaign, euthanized 1,647 cats and dogs last year and only placed 19 in new homes according to the data submitted to the Virginia Department for Agriculture and Consumer Services.

PETA’s hypocrisy reflects how morally bankrupt the group really is. Alaskans of all stripes should reject its meddling in the Last Frontier.

Iditarod Mushers Welcome Rest in Villages

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ROHN, Alaska – Imagine standing on a sled behind a team of 16 dogs, traveling mile after desolate mile in the Alaska wilderness without any sign of other human life.

All of a sudden, lights shine off in the distance, the first village to come into view in a very long time.

Whether it’s a single cabin or a booming village of several hundred people, for mushers on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the villages are not only checkpoints to eat, rest and recharge, but a chance to interact with someone other than their dogs.

“There are no checkpoints that I dislike,” said defending champion Dallas Seavey. “Every time you come around the corner and see the lights of a checkpoint approaching, it’s a great sight.”

Four-time champion Martin Buser rested at the checkpoint in Rohn after a blistering fast 170-mile run that had put him hours ahead of the other teams.

Read more from this story HERE.