After a Difficult Year, Scandal-Plagued Iditarod Seeks ‘New Blood’
A December report by the nonprofit Foraker Group found major flaws within the Iditarod Trail Committee, which plans and oversees the thousand-mile sled dog race. Now, the ITC says it’s expanding its board. And several directors may resign.
16 Teams Depart Kobuk 440 Start in Kotzebue
Sixteen dog teams took off from Kotzebue this afternoon at the start of the 2018 Kobuk 440. Leading the pack across the sea ice was this year’s Iditarod Rookie of the Year, Jessie Holmes. Absent was Kotzebue musher Katherine Keith, although some of her kennel’s dogs will be on the trail.
As Iditarod Has Changed, So Has Its Relationship With Its Native Roots, Mushers Say
Longtime Bethel musher Pete Kaiser surmises it’s become more difficult for some in smaller, rural communities to manage an Iditarod-caliber team. “It’s really not a hobby or anything else, it’s a lifestyle, and it requires my time 365 days a year. And when you have other things going on like family and kids, you kind of need a job to support this job. It gets very complicated.”
2018 Iditarod Registration Deadline Come and Gone; Almost 70 Mushers Will Compete
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. Dallas Seavey is still listed as withdrawn since he took himself out of the race in protest for the way the Iditarod Trail Committee handled the positive drug tests taken from his dog team earlier this year.