Jr. Iditarod Set to Start at Wolverine Lodge
February 21, 2003

By 2001 Junior Iditarod Champion Tyrell Seavey

A light snow is falling here at the 2003 Jr. Iditarod headquarters on Lake Louise.  Wolverine Lodge is hosting this year's race, and with this little bit of extra snow the mushers can look forward to near perfect trails.  19 teams are entered this year.  The field is diverse, but definitely competitive, with mushers ranging from, Katrina Rix, who won last year's Red Lantern Award (given the last place musher) to rookie Nikolai Buser, son of defending Iditarod Champion Martin Buser.

The dog trucks are starting to get into position on the lake ice for tomorrow's big start.  I walked through the trucks and talked with some of the mushers, and most of them seemed ready for the race, although a few expressed concerns about low training miles due to the difficult snow conditions this year.

Junior Iditarod Musher Mari Troshynski of Big Lake, Alaska, feeds her dogs this evening.

The race trail is 154 miles, with a mandatory eight hour rest stop at the halfway point.  The racers can expect to have a well-groomed fast trail, but it still traverses some difficult terrain, including one harrowing corner simply known as "the tree".  Probably the biggest challenge for these junior racers will be the long runs the race format imposes.  The musher who wins this race will be the one who plays it smart in the beginning, conserving enough energy early on to stay strong all the way to the finish line.  Of course, the overall quality of the dog team plays a big role in the definition of conservative.

Dallas Seavey

Ultimate Iditarod's coverage will focus on Dallas Seavey.  Dallas ran the Jr. Iditarod last year and finished 7th with a young team he trained single-handedly.  This year, with me running the Iditarod rather than the Junior, he has upgraded his team, and is definitely a contender for first place.  We'll keep you in the loop as the race unfolds.

Reporting from Lake Louise,

Tyrell Seavey for Ultimate Iditarod

Trust UltimateIditarod.com to keep you up to date on all the Iditarod action!

© 2003 Ultimate Iditarod, Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs, Seavey's Iditarod Racing Team
Reproduction or distribution in any way or by any means prohibited without permission.
Ultimate Iditarod http://www.ultimateiditarod.com  email: dogboy@ultimateiditarod.com