Canceled—the Paul Johnson Memorial Norton Sound 450 sled dog race won’t run this year.
A post on the race’s Facebook page says trail conditions, logistics, and “changes to racer needs” led to the cancelation of this year’s race.
The mid-distance race from Unalakleet to Kaltag and back—and then along the Norton Sound coast to the finish line in Nome—was first run in 2012, and ended with a breathtaking race to the finish between John Schandelmeier and the eventual winner, Pete Kaiser. But the race has struggled in the years since, seeing the event significantly shortened in 2013 and canceled all together last year due to poor snow conditions along the trail.
The race was set to start Wednesday, Feb. 11, in the middle of another major race, the Yukon Quest.
A November announcement advertised the race as offering a $30,000 purse to the winning mushers, and would have qualified finishers for the Iditarod. By December only one musher, Dee Dee Jonrowe, had officially signed up to run.
The race is run in memory of Paul Johnson, an Iditarod veteran from Unalakleet and long-time Norton Sound Sled Dog Club member who died of cancer in October of 2011.
Officials call the cancelation “very unfortunate” and say they hope the race will return “bigger and better” in 2016.
