Almost 70 mushers signed up for the 2018 Iditarod sled dog race by the registration deadline on Friday.
Veteran musher John Baker of Kotzebue was the final one out of 69 people to enter into the 1,000-mile sled dog race before this morning. Also on the list are 16 rookies, mushers representing more than four different nationalities, and the 2017 champion, Mitch Seavey.
Mitch’s son, Dallas Seavey, is still listed as withdrawn since he took himself out of the race in protest for the way the Iditarod Trail Committee handled the positive drug tests that were taken from his dog team earlier this year.
Seavey is joined by six other mushers who withdrew from the Iditarod for various reasons. On Thursday, Seavey announced that he would compete in Norway’s 745-mile (1200-km) Finnmarkslopet. That race is held around the same time as the Iditarod.
All 69 mushers signed up to compete in the 2018 Iditarod sled dog race will participate in the ceremonial start on March 3rd, with the race restart taking place the day after.
Image at top: Mitch Seavey, pulling his team past the finish line after officially checking off the Iditarod Trail. Photo: David Dodman, KNOM.
