If you thought the people of Nome were itching for snow, meet the 38 sled dogs impatiently waiting for their turn on the trail at Saturday's Fun Run event. Mushers and their dog teams gathered at Nome's snow dump for an afternoon of skijoring, kick sledding, and a casual four-dog sprint race.
Jessica Lemaire, known mononymously as “Burr”, said Saturday's Fun Run intended to be just that- fun.
“We're just trying to make it a really welcoming, fun event not just for the mushers, but for the community,” Burr said.
Burr has raised sled dogs for five years at Comstock Kennel, a joint operation with her husband Tim Lemaire. She’s also the president of Nome Kennel Club, the oldest such club in the country. Burr said these days the club organizes competitive racing and community outreach, like teaching sled dog ownership 101 at Nome-Beltz Middle High School.
“Can a chihuahua sleep outside? No. Can a Husky? Probably, if it has a good house and straw and those type of things,” Burr said.
This year, mushers in Nome faced icy conditions and an unseasonably late start to the snow season. Last week, Nome finally got about a foot of snow. Burr said the dogs were ready to go.
“They get pretty stoked when it snows, I think that they definitely know the snow is coming and it's time to go. And yeah, when it's raining in January it's miserable for everyone, miserable for us, it's miserable for the dogs,” Burr said.
The snow came just in time too. This weekend, three dog teams are headed 22 miles out and back from Nome for a symbolic reenactment of the 1925 Serum Run. All week long Nome Kennel Club is putting on events in recognition of the historic dog sled journey that saved Nome from diphtheria.
KNOM will be joining the mushers on the trail for the Serum Run reenactment this weekend. A live stream with map and photos from the trail will be available starting on Saturday.
