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LATEST
SNIPPET
2016 - Six out of 10 mushers are girls this
year. Rookie Bailey Schaeffer finished in 3rd
place.
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Background
Blazing the Trail for Future Generations
In 1975 Eric Beeman, Rome Gilman, Mark Couch,
Susan Wagnon, Clint Mayeur, Carl Clawson, and
Jessee Reynolds, had a dream of starting a
competitive race and providing a training ground
for young mushers like themselves interested in
distance racing. During the next two years other
young people including Kenny Pugh, Jeff and Kirsten
Pralle, Clarence Shockley, Randy Rader and others
joined them and turned this dream from extended
camping trips into the beginnings of the premiere
race we know today.
Joe Redington Sr., after discussing the idea
with these young people, advised them to "go for
it" and that was the beginning of the Jr.
Iditarod.
This dedicated group of young mushers, with the
help of their parents and other interested adults,
worked very hard and saw their dream realized when
the first Jr. Iditarod Trail Race took place in
March of 1978. From then on, the race has grown in
stature and professionalism to an event of
approximately 160 miles in length. It is held on
the weekend immediately preceding the start of the
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and draws young
mushers from all over Alaska and from outside the
state as well as Europe with Thomas Krejci of
Czechoslovakia being our first international
entrant in 1992. www.jriditarod.com/special.php?id=7
Preview the Junior
Iditarod
Camping trips with their dogs and sleds,
that’s all teenage mushers had prior to the
days of the now celebrated Junior Iditarod. It was
the same year that Rick Swenson and Dick Mackey
traded leads as they sprinted down Front Street in
Nome for the closest finish in Iditarod history
that the inaugural junior race was staged. Young
mushers of the mid 1970’s watched family
members and friends head out across the great state
of Alaska to conquer the trail to Nome. The
youngsters conceived the idea of having a race of
their own – a first rate competition. Those
visionary teens along with their parents and other
mushing enthusiasts went to Iditarod founder Joe
Redington, Sr. seeking his advice and endorsement.
Seeing the passion and desire in their hearts and
recognizing that they would be the future of dog
mushing in Alaska, Joe encouraged them to “go
for it.” One would expect nothing less from
the man who “dreamed up” Iditarod.
Thirty-three years later, the field is set for
the running of the 2011 Junior Iditarod. Fifteen
teams have entered the competition that runs from
Knik Lake to Yentna Station Roadhouse. Before
leaving Yentna for the last half of the race that
concludes at the Willow Community Center, the teams
are required to take a ten-hour rest. The distance
covered by the teen mushers is roughly 150
miles.
The current field is led by defending champion
Marissa Osmar of Ninilchik, Alaska. Marissa
is a third generation musher. Her father, Tim is a
3 time Junior champ and her grandfather, Dean, won
the 1984 Iditarod. The field of fifteen teams has
eight veteran Junior mushers along with seven
rookies. The veterans have 15 combined years of
Junior experience. By gender the field consists of
six guys and nine girls. Rookies Jenny
Greger from Bozeman, Montana and Annika
Oleson from Yellowknife in NWT, CANADA join the
twelve Alaskan contestants.
In reading the musher biographies on the Junior
Iditarod website, one sees several common themes.
Many of the teens come from families that have been
involved in the sport for a long while –
several for three generations. A few of the current
field are fairly new to the sport but many say
they’ve been mushing almost as long as
they’ve been walking. Many have parents who
are Junior Iditarod or Iditarod veterans. Several
of the juniors running this year hope to pursue
careers as veterinarians.
Eye on the Trail:
Reflecting on the Jr. Iditarod from Yentna
As of 1:30 this afternoon (Sunday, 2016), all Jr.
Iditarod teams have crossed the Willow finish line.
It become evident at the stating corral on Saturday
morning that these groups of teens was on the high
end when it came to quality. From the moment they
pulled into the staging area with their parents or
mentors, they were all focused on their dogs and
necessary preparations for the 10:00 start.
All mushers arrived at the half-way point of the
race where they signed in and went through sled
check to show the mandatory gear. Sleds were
organized and so were the young mushers. But
it’s not about the sled, it’s about the
dogs. As the TOP NOTCH TEENS approached Yentna,
their dogs were really energetic. That energy was
largely due to the pace the teams ran at. These
mushers knew their dogs and paced them and hydrated
them correctly so they finished the 75-mile run
still wanting to do more.
Once the teams were parked, the mushers went to
work removing booties, distributing straw and
watering their dogs. Then they took to preparing a
gourmet meal for the dogs and while that was
cooking, the dogs enjoyed special massage treatment
and received a great deal of praise and love. For
the mushers, it was a freeze dried meal recreated
with hot water.
The dogs were soon sleeping and the mushers
enjoyed a Yentna Station tradition – the bon
fire. It’s a time for the kids to sit around
the fire, talk with their peers, renewing old
friendships and creating new friendships. They
didn’t stay their long. With the mild
overnight temperatures, most of the teens caught
some sleep on the straw right along with their
dogs. Ten hours sounds like a long time but it
went by pretty fast.
The race judges and the race marshall circulated
amongst the teams all night. One major sled repair
was accomplished. A couple of mushers decided to
drop a dog at Yentna.
Morning arrived well before sunrise at Yentna.
As the starter/timer for the return run, my work
began at about 2:30 am. The thermometer showed 24
degrees, there were stars peaking through some
light cloud cover and the winds were calm. What a
great mushing day.
Once again, these teens were at their best.
They had their teams ready to depart right on time.
Kevin Harper left at 2:49 with Andrew Nolan
following closely at 2:58. Harper stopped for a
couple of minutes once he made the river to repair
a neck line. Bailey Schaeffer followed at 3:18.
There was a break in the action until 3:45 when
Joan Klejka, Dakota Schlosser, Chandler Wappett and
Denver Kay Evans in just 10 minutes. After a half
hour break in the action, Marianna Mallory, Rose
Capistrant and Katie Deits left in the span of nine
minutes.
The TOP NOTCH TEN had their routine down. Dogs
were feed, camp was cleaned, booties went on, the
dogs stood with tails flagging and they were ready
to rock and roll. Each team was brought forward
off their straw to a hard packed snowmachine trail
for their countdown. That’s easier said than
done because once these dogs are charged up to run
start moving, it’s not an easy task to have
them stop and wait till the seconds tick down.
They don’t really care what time it is, they
simply want to run.
Denver Kay Evans was running Ryan Redington
dogs. Her dogs trotted forward and stopped when
Denver called whoa. They stood very patiently
through their countdown, leaning but not lunging,
jumping or barking. They were focused, they were
ready to run. That energy saving mode is a trait
Ryan instills in his dogs and Denver reinforced it
beautifully.
Race Marshall Danny Seavey and Veterinarian Dr.
Phil Meyer had much praise for these Top Notch
Teens. Their dog care was exemplary and their race
strategy was well managed.
I wasn’t at the finish line for the arrival
of the Champion and runner-up. The IAF sent planes
out to Yentna at first light but it’s not the
humans that have priority, it’s the dropped
dogs. As more planes arrived we returned two by
two to Willow. Bailey Schaeffer was the first team
I photographed near the finish line. All teams
completed the race prior to 1:30 this (Sunday)
afternoon, exactly as estimated according to their
performance on Saturday.
Please check the Jr. iditarod webpage for
complete results of the 39th race. Kevin Harper
reclaimed his title. Andrew Nolan also in his
third Jr. Iditarod claimed second. Bailey
Schaeffer a rookie placed and Dakota Schlosser
followed for fourth place. Rookie Chandler Wappett
claimed fifth followed by veteran Joad Klejka and
Rookie Denver Kay Evans. Rose Capistrant, Marianna
Mallory and Katie Deits all veterans rounded out
the TEN TOP NOTCH TEENS.
Congrats to all mushers for a fine performance.
Congrats to Stan Hecker, long time volunteer, who
was honored by the Jr. Iditarod. Many thanks to
the ever gracious Gabryszaks for their hospitality
at the Yentna Station Roadhouse. Additional thanks
to the dedicated army of volunteers who make the
Jr. Iditarod happen and to the pilots of the
IAF.
Eye on the Trail:
Jr. Iditarod Mushers Draw Bib Numbers
Ten Jr. Iditarod mushers drew their bib numbers
on Friday evening at Iditarod Headquarters. The
Juniors will take to the trail on February 27th
from the Willow Community Center at 10:00.
The teens, ages 14 – 17 will run 75 miles
out to Yentna Station Roadhouse. The roadhouse,
run by the Gabryszak family, has been the
traditional turnaround for years. The teens will
begin to arrive late afternoon. They are required
to rest for 10 hours. The differential to
accommodate two-minute start intervals is added to
the ten hours. Given past races, the leaders will
most likely depart from Yentna for the return trip
to Willow beginning at sometime between three or
four o’clock in the morning.
The JR. Iditarod field for 2016 is comprised of
seven veterans and three rookies. They all hail
from Alaska in an area covered by a triangle with
corners in Fairbanks, Bethel and Skagway.
There’s an equal number of male and female
racers.
Five of the top six finisher in 2015 are back to
race. Defending Champion Kevin Harper, returns for
his final Jr. Iditarod. Andrew Nolan the recipient
of the 2015 Sportsmanship award and Marianna
Mallory the recipient of the 2015 Humanitarian
award are back for the race. Nolan finished third
and Mallory finished in 6th place. Dakota
Schlosser, the highest placing rookie of 2015
returns to the field. In 2015 the Jr. Iditarod was
moved north to Cantwell and the Denali Highway do
poor snow conditions so for most of the veterans,
the trail will be new. Harper and Nolan are the
only returning veterans with more than a year of
race experience.
Veterans Katie Diets, Rose Capistrant and Joan
Klejka will be on the traditional Jr iditarod trail
for the first time come Saturday. Klejka from
Bethel was awarded the Red Lantern in 2015 as the
final musher to finish.
New comers to the race include Bailey Schaeffer
of Willow, Denver Kay Evans of Skagway and Chandler
Wappett of Fairbanks.
Wasilla merchants and mushing suppliers are very
generous in supporting the Jr. Iditarod. The
donations are numerous and each musher receives a
bag of items ranging from gloves to blinking safety
lights to fleece neck warmers. Kipmik provides 500
dog booties. Each of the mushers draws a tag. If
the tag has a “B” the musher receives 100
booties, tags drawn with a smiley face mean have a
smiley day but no booties. Winners were Katie
Deits, Rose Capistrant, Joan Klejka, Kevin Harper
and Chandler Wappett. Many thanks to Kipmik for
their generous support of the Jr. Iditarod
mushers.
The Jr. Iditarod has select Stan Hecker as the
Honorary Musher. Hecker is a long time volunteer
from Michigan who came to the race through high
school friends. Hecker will be on hand in Willow
wearing Bib #1.
The weather is expected to be unusual for this
time of year. Temperatures may reach into the 40s
and some rain may fall. These mushers and their
dogs are ready to rock and roll.
36th Junior Iditarod
Thirteen Junior Mushers are registered and set to
start the Junior Iditarod on the last Saturday of
February. The field for the 2013 Junior Iditarod is
composed of an international entry, four lower 48
entries and eight Alaskans. Rookies outnumber the
veteran mushers by one. All together the veterans
bring eight years of Iditarod experience to the
starting line on Knik Lake. Conway Seavey has
completed two prior Junior Iditarod races and is
back to defend his 2012 championship.
Jenny Greger from Montana returns for her third
run to Yentna Station. She’s looking to better
her 5th place finishes over the last two years. Ben
Harper, looking to improve his 3rd place finish in
2012 has only been involved in the sport of mushing
since moving to Alaska two years ago. Other
veterans include Alaskans, Jonathan Biggerstaff and
Alea Robinson. Annika Oleson of Yellowknife in the
Northwest Territory of Canada rounds out the
returning list of veterans.
New to the race are Bethel residents Joshua
Klejka and Caleb Miller. Klejka has been running
dogs since a young age while Miller is fairly new
to the sport. Abby Brooks from Fairbanks has a long
family history of mushing and hopes to complete
this Junior Iditarod after becoming sick and
scratching last year. Jimmy Lanier of Chugiak says
he began mushing before he was born. Jimmy likes to
sing and play baseball. From the lower 48 are
rookies Noah Pereira from New York, Taylor Steele
from Pennsylvania and Malinda Tjelta from North
Dakota all have several years of experience
standing on the sled runners behind a dog team. Get
to know the young mushers better by reading their
biographies on the Junior Iditarod webpage.
Now it’s time for a little Junior Iditarod
history. The first year of the race, there were two
divisions of mushers. The senior division
contestants, ages 15 to 17, ran 10 dogs for a
distance of 40 miles. The junior division, ages 11
to 14, ran 6 dogs for a distance of 36 miles. The
next year the race was changed to only one division
of ages 14 to 17 and ran 90 miles with a maximum of
10-dogs. For the past 30 years, the juniors have
run a distance of about 150 miles. Generally the
route runs from Knik Lake out to Yentna Station
where the teams take a required ten-hour rest plus
the starting differential before heading to the
finish line at Willow Lake. Five mushers have won
the Junior Iditarod in back to back years. The only
musher to win three Junior Iditarod races in a row
was Tim Osmar. Race results from the past 34 years
are available in the Junior Iditarod history
archives.
Source: iditarod.com/junior-news-35th-junior-iditarod/
2013 Bib Draw
It’s Friday night and the Junior Iditarod
mushers have drawn their bib numbers. Thanks to the
generosity of local merchants each participant
received a care package that included a musher hat,
headband, gloves, socks and other items too
numerous to mention. As the mushers and parents
enjoyed pizza, the trail boss reviewed the route
and trail markings. As has been the tradition for
the past 30 years, the Junior route will cover 150
miles – 75 miles from Knik Lake to Yentna
Station and 75 miles from Yentna Station to the
finish on Willow Lake.
When it came time to draw starting positions,
dog tags were placed in a hat made of dog booties.
The mushers drew and announced their starting
position. Before the Saturday morning start, dog
tags must be placed on each dog, on the person and
on the sled. Kipmik provided five packs of 100 dog
booties and the lucky winners were dogs owned by
Conway Seavey, Jimmy Lanier, Jenny Greger, Malinda
Tjelta and Alea Robinson.
To thank the many generous businesses and
individuals who provided prizes for the Junior
Iditarod, the mushers signed bibs that will be
presented to the sponsors. Once again, Lynden
Transportation will award scholarships to the top
finishers. Lynden also sponsors the humanitarian
and sportsmanship awards. Previous scholarship
winners have used the funds to attend college,
flight school, trade school and business
school.
The Junior Iditarod Board of Directors chose to
honor Scooter Newman as the Honorary Musher for the
2013 Junior Iditarod. Scooter participated in the
first three Junior Iditarod races. She impressed
her mentors with her work ethic and abilities as a
dog musher. Scooter was very competitive and worked
hard to do her best for her dogs and do her best in
every race. In running the early races, Scooter
influenced other young girls to participate in the
sport as well as run dogs competitively. Scooter
passed away in August of 2012 at the young age of
50. She’s an inspiring part of Junior Iditarod
history. The Junior mushers signed Bib #1 to
present to Howie Newman, Scooter’s father.
There was a lot of excitement at the musher
meeting tonight. As the dog trucks arrive at Knik
Lake in the morning, the dogs will add their energy
to that of the mushers. It looks like it will be an
excellent event. The trail was reported to be in
excellent condition. Weather conditions for the
race should be mild with the possibility of light
snow. Follow the progress of the teams from start
to finish at www.jriditarod.com
.
Source: iditarod.com/junior-news-bib-draw
Snippets
Two rookies lead off the 2013 Jr Iditarod
today-Melina Tjelta and Abigail Brooks then comes
Annika Olesen.
* * *
For the 36th running of the Junior Iditarod, six
of 13 mushers in 2013 are girls.
* * *
Five of 10 mushers in 2012 were girls.
* * *
This is Jenny Greger's
third Jr. Iditarod. She finished fifth in 2011 and
2012 and 2013. she was the first woman to cross the
finish line and finished 3rd over-all. 
* * *
Results
|
2016 - 39th
Running
|
|
Bib
|
Finish
|
Name
|
Comments
|
|
9
|
8
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Rose Capistran
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2015 rookie 8th
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|
4
|
10
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Ksenia Deits
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2015 rookie 7th
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|
|
|
Jessi Downey
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not listed - 2016 rookie?
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|
6
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7
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Denver Kay Evans R
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2016 rookie?
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|
|
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Nicole Forto
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2014 rookie 9th, 2015 9th
|
|
11
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6
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Joan
Klejka
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2015 rookie 11th. Red lantern
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3
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9
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Marianna Mallory
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2015 rookie 6th Humanitarian
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|
2
|
3
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Bailey Schaeffer R
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2016 rookie
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Four girls, all rookies, versus 6 boys - 2 rookies
and 4 veterans.
|
2012 - 35th
Running
|
|
Bib
|
Finish
|
Name
|
Comments
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|
8
|
5
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Jenny
Greger
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2/26, 2012 17:19:00
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5
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6
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Chelsea
Davis
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2/26, 2012 17:42:00
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|
6
|
8
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Aiyana Ferraro
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2/26, 2012 18:45:00
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|
9
|
9
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Mattie Cobb
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2/25, 2012 15:05:00
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|
12
|
10
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Abigail
Brooks
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2/26, 2012 14:34:00
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Legend: R - Rookie, W -
Withdrew
* * *
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