Streeper, Wright return for first 'real' Rondy race in 3 years

For the first time in three years, the Fur Rendezvous Open World Championship Sled Dog Race is back, and it features some big names and an enticing purse.

After a cancellation in 2015 and a shorter race last season due to scant snow, plentiful snow this winter has allowed the race to return. It includes a stacked field of 19 mushers and a record purse of $100,000, with $12,250 going to the champion.

The three-day race begins at noon Friday in downtown Anchorage on the corner of Fourth Avenue and D Street. Mushers will race 25-mile heats, on a combination of city streets and wooded trails, on three straight days.

Five-time champion Buddy Streeper of Fort Nelson, British Columbia, returns for the first time since his disqualification for punching a fellow musher in 2011, and three-time champion Roxy Wright of Fairbanks, who hasn't competed in Fur Rondy since the early 1990s, is back with dogs from the kennel of 2013 and 2014 champion Arleigh Reynolds.

"We've been thinking about this race for three years," Streeper said. "It was on the radar three years ago and the weather was just killing us. Once we started getting the snow, then we were really excited. We're happy to be here."

This year's race purse is the largest in race history. The previous record was $80,000 in 2010. Last year's Fur Rondy Invitational featured a much shorter, 5-kilometer race and a smaller purse of $25,000.

"Last year, we had the invitational with the lower purse than what was advertised because it wasn't the full 'Rondy' (and) the year before that we didn't have the race, so we had purse money accumulating," said Scott Maruskie, vice president for the Alaskan Sled Dog & Racing Association.

This year's race features a mix of 15 veterans and four rookies.

Streeper will be racing against his wife, Lina, who is a solid musher in her own right.

Both are coming off recent victories. Buddy won the World Championship 10-dog race in Pas, Manitoba, on Saturday and Lina won the Stage Stop Dog Sled Race in Wyoming earlier this month. Lina finished third in Manitoba.

"We're family up until they say 'Go,' " Lina said with a laugh. "Then we race each other."

The Streepers travel with 44 dogs and their two children, Alva, 6, and Clara, 4. Bathroom breaks are frequent on long trips, but they've figured out how to make it work.

After racing in Manitoba in central Canada, the Streepers made the 3,500-mile trek to Alaska with only a brief stop at home in Fort Nelson before continuing to Anchorage. They arrived Wednesday three hours before the race draw.

"We're kind of like the Beverly Hillbillies traveling down the road, but we love it, we're enjoying it and it's a fun time that we're having," Buddy said.

Buddy won his first Fur Rendezvous Open World Championship in 2004 and won four straight from 2007-2010.

For Lina, who moved to Canada from Sweden 10 years ago to work at the Streeper family kennel, it's her second time racing Fur Rondy.

Her first major sled dog race was the 2009 race, where she finished 10th.

"Eight years ago running it, it was so emotional," Lina said. "It was something I dreamed about. You read these mushing magazines when you grow up in Sweden.

"I didn't think I was (ever) going to be (racing). To be back here is awesome."

Buddy said he looks forward to the urban challenges that come with racing on city streets, through tunnels and over paved bridges.

"It's always a challenge, this race," Buddy said. "We start in the city, we run through the streets and the bike paths, the club trail can be tricky, but there's not a concern in regards to the snow condition, because it's perfect."

This year, fans can watch a live stream of the race on Facebook live — a link to the stream will be available on therondy.com. Radio updates will take place every 15 minutes on radio station KOAN 1080-AM.

A list of the best viewing locations is available on furrondy.net.

Friday's start order

1) James Wheeler, Clam Gulch
2) Lina Streeper, Fort Nelson, Canada
3) Buddy Streeper, Fort Nelson, Canada
4) Dave Turner, Fairbanks
5) Gary Marley, Anchorage
6) George Attla III, North Pole
7) Dan Cousins, Crooked Creek
8) J.P. Norris, Willow
9) Jeffrey Conn, Ester
10) Danny Beck, Hay River, Canada
11) Jason Dunlap, East Salcha
12) Marvin Kokrine, North Pole
13) John Erhart, Tanana
14) Roxy Wright, Fairbanks
15) Bill Kornmueller, Willow
16) Emilie Entrikin (rookie), Fairbanks
17) "Nikki" Seo, (rookie), Salcha
18) Anthony Beck, (rookie), Hay River
19) Mark Hartum, Seba Beach (rookie), Canada