Iditarod When?

The MushHusky! 2007 - 2008 mushing season started off right on schedule.

We began the season with ATV training on the dirt trails on September 1 as we had planned. Even though we had much more autumn rain than we would have liked, it did eventually turn to snow. It was not too long before we had enough snow to hold a hook and switch over to the sleds. Then, unexpectedly, the snow turned to long periods of heavy rain and washed away nearly every flake of snow that had accumulated. Our trails disappeared while the dirt trails turned to ice, making returning to the ATV too treacherous. These developments have changed some of the plans for our 2009 Iditarod attempt.

The late resumption of training prohibits entering the Knik 200, scheduled for the first weekend of January, which was the first qualifier that was planned for the '09 Iditarod. The late training will also make running the Bowers 300, scheduled for the last weekend of January, unlikely. The cancellation of these two qualifiers in our race schedule will now delay their completion until 2009. While it may still be possible to run the Iditarod in 2009, any failure to complete these qualifiers at this time will make an '09 run impossible. So, now we are contemplating re-scheduling our first Iditarod attempt for 2010.

There will be some benefits to delaying our first Iditarod attempt. Our youngest dogs will be one year older, increasing our pool of dogs from which to choose from. We will gain an extra year for our fund raising efforts. And we will gain an extra season for completing our qualifiers. In the end, it may be a better path. We will continue to aggressively pursue Rebekah's 2007 - 2008 junior race schedule as originally planned. So the 2007 - 2008 season will not be a loss at all, but will instead allow us to test the dog team as we participate in this season's junior circuit. So, continue to look for the MushHusky! team this season as we continue to chase that elusive Iditarod dream.