My First Jr. Iditarod

By Rebekah Ruzicka

I ran my first Jr. Iditarod in the winter of 2007. I ran it because I wanted the experience and I wanted the satisfaction of knowing that I had done something very important to me.

Here is a little bit about my life, my family and how I came to run the Jr. Iditarod.

Both of my parents were born in Nebraska. My dad had a dream of moving up to Alaska and finally, in the fall of 1992, we did. Because of his dream we have lived here ever since.

Alaska is a very beautiful and mystic place. It gets lots of snow in the winter and lots of green in the summer. It has lots of wildlife and wilderness.

A few months after we moved up to Alaska I was born. I have five brothers and sisters and one nephew. When I was born, we lived in a trailer house in Kachemak City, Alaska. We then moved out to a small cabin on the Kenai Peninsula. In 2003 we moved to a new house that my family built next to the old cabin.

During all of these moves my dad raised and ran sled dogs. We have a small kennel of dogs. We have only a few that we have purchased from other mushers.

My dad started mushing in 1993, the year I was born. I always wanted to run the dogs just like my dad. I have been raised around sled dogs and animals all of my life.

I started training for the Jr. Iditarod, that was to take place on February 24-25, 2007, in July of 2006. As the race drew near, this was not the time to be inside drinking hot chocolate. It was the time to be out in the wilderness! I had to run 30, 40 and 50 mile runs in the light and the dark. These would be eight to ten hour days including my school work and chores.

Finally, it was time to take the three hundred mile trip up to Knik, Alaska, where the race was to take place. We loaded our ten dogs, sled and all of the gear onto the mushing truck and started the day long journey. On February 23, we took the dogs to the morning Vet Check. That night I went to the mushers meeting, where we drew our bib numbers and they told us about the trail. I drew bib number 25.

The next day we went to the starting line and the temperature was about five degrees. We unloaded our dogs, then put harnesses and booties on the dogs. When my number was called, I hit the trail to begin the 150 mile race.

On the way out the trail was hard packed, almost like a paved highway. The sun had a dazzling effect on the white snow. The team clipped down the trail at a nice pace, about nine, or ten miles an hour. Only an hour down the trail I came over a steep hill. Suddenly, I saw in the middle of the trail a musher who had stopped to untangle her dogs. She was in the middle of her team when I collided with her at a zooming speed. My sled caught her sled and we all went flying. Luckily, no one got hurt. Other than that the trip to Yetna, the halfway point, went very well and I had a lot of fun.

Just as it got dark I made it to the halfway point where all of the mushers had to rest for ten hours. I fed and watered my dogs by melting snow in my cooker. Then I bedded them down for the night. Now it was my turn to eat. I ate, then I sat with the other mushers around the big bonfire.

At 4:23 in the morning I hit the trail again, only to find trouble around every corner. First, my headlamp went dead when it was still dark. Then I hit a tree. I was about ten miles from the finish line, when I got lost. I was lost for three hours. I had broken my sled beyond repair, but my dogs and I wanted to get home, so we did not let that stop us.

When I saw the finish line I was very happy. That night at the banquet they handed out prizes and said how happy they were that so many kids ran the race this year.

What I learned is: no matter what happens, never give up. The outcome is definitely worth it. I am already training for 2008.