Mushers launch teams, and careers, at 150-mile Junior Iditarod

KNIK — Sixteen young mushers pulled their snow hooks and bolted from Knik Lake to begin the Junior Iditarod on Saturday. The participants, 14 to 17 years old, pulled on their bib numbers, hooked up their teams and received last-minute hugs and advice from family members before beginning the 150-mile race.

It’s a first-time experience for several racers. The trail takes them to Yentna Station Roadhouse, where racers take a 10-hour mandatory rest, before they return to Knik on Sunday.

Organizers say the teen mushers are excited and competitive at the starting line. Because the rules don’t allow for outside assistance, the race has good life lessons in store, said Mike Adams, a board member who also serves as a trail sweeper by snowmachine.

“They’re independent,” said Adams. “They’re learning to deal with the adversity.”

“The parents are the ones that are the most nervous,” said fellow board member Richard Plack.

Plack said there’s only been a few times he’s had to help a teen who scratched from the race in the 30 years he has been involved. Camaraderie is also a valuable takeaway, he said.

“They’ve made a friendship that’ll last just about the rest of their life,” Plack said.

[When does the Iditarod start, and who’s competing? What to know ahead of the 2023 race]

Race organizer Barb Redington said the Junior Iditarod has helped launch many long-distance mushing careers since it began in 1978, some Mackeys, Seaveys and Redingtons among them. She estimates between 50 and 70 junior mushers have gone on to run the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Others have used scholarship prize money to help them on their way to becoming pilots, teachers, engineers and more.

“It’s nice to see them flourish,” Redington said.

First prize is worth $6,000 this year, she said.

Wasilla musher Jordan Bishop, 17, said he felt confident as he moved his team to the starting chute on the frozen lake. He hoped to pass some other teams on the trail, he said, since he was the last musher to leave the starting line.

“It’s my first time ever racing,” Bishop said.

“I started mushing about two years ago,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about it since. Now I’m ready.”