Start Date:
The
Saturday and Sunday the week before the Iditarod which is held the first Saturday in March each year.
Entry Fee: $50 - Additional amount incurred if entry fee is paid
after a certain date as detailed in the Policy statement. |
First Race: March 11 & 12, 1978
The first year the
Jr. Iditarod was run, there were two divisions - Junior Div. for ages 11 to 14, and
Senior Div. for ages 15 to 17. This was changed the following year to only one division for
ages 14 to 17.
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Distance: Although the first year a total of 36 miles was
run by the Jr. Div. and 40 miles run by the Sr. Div., and the next year the course was lengthened
to 90 miles, the history of the race since 1980 has shown a distance close to 150 miles depending
on the trail conditions which may deem the course be altered slightly. |
First Lady to Win the Race: Christine Delia from Skwentna, Alaska in
1981. Cali King won in 2002, and CONGRATULATIONS to Ellie Clause for winning
the 2003 Jr. Iditarod! |
| Age Range of Mushers: 14 to 17 years of age the day the race
begins. |
Shortest Completed Time:
Taking into consideration the varying lengths of this race over the years, this is not easily
ascertained. But calculating total miles run into total minutes time, the fastest musher was
Ramey Smith, who ran the
140 miles of the Jr. Iditarod in 1992 in 10 hours, 19 minutes and 51 seconds |
Longest Completed Time:
1 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 9 seconds was run by Peter Jayne over the 150 miles
of the 2002 Jr. Iditarod. The data appears to be incomplete as there are no times available
for the last four racers. (As Iditarod.com completes their page, this info will be
updated.) |
The Most Mushers: The most mushers to start a race was
22 in 1999. The most mushers to finish the race was 20, also in 1999.
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| 2003 Trophies and Prizes: First through fifth place trophies,
a lantern for last place, and participation trophies for the remainder of the mushers will be
awarded at the Jr. Iditarod banquet. Special awards to be given are Sportsmanship, Rookie of
the Year, Blue Harness (lead dog award), and Humanitarian (awarded by the chief veterinarian.)
Prizes will be awarded according to donations.
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Most Wins: The person with the most wins to date is Tim Osmar in
1982, 1983 and 1984. Tim has gone on to race the Iditarod 17 times, and is entered in the 2003
race. He has also won the Yukon Quest in 2001. |
Checkpoints: There are 5 or 6 checkpoints on the trail as follows:
Wasilla - Race Start,
Pass through checkpoint - Location to be identified at musher meeting,
Trail Lake - Sign-in only checkpoint, both ways; dog drop – no sled check,
Yentna Station Roadhouse - Halfway point and layover, sign-in checkpoint.
One additional sign-in checkpoint may be added depending on racecourse.
Wasilla - Finish
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Possible Temperature Extremes During Race: Extreme temperatures
reported have been mid-50's above in 1981, making the trail conditions punchy and very wet, to
-50°
at Pt. McKenzie in 1979. 1994 reported temperatures ranged from -28° to 0° F., but high
winds caused wind chill to be much lower. |
| Teams: A musher must have at least 7, and up to 10 dogs
at the starting line, and must cross the finish line with at least 5 dogs on the tow line.
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Competitors: Although most of the competing mushers are
overwhelmingly from Alaska,
other states
have been represented in the Jr. Iditarod including Minnesota, Montana, Ohio and Georgia.
The first entrant from another country was Thomas Krejci in 1992 from Brno, Czechoslavakia.
Besides that, the only other country represented so far has been Canada. |
Media: ABC Wide World of Sports taped the Jr. Iditarod in
1998 for a half hour special. |
Mandatory Rest: All mushers are required to take a mandatory
10 hour layover at the Yentna Station before returning to Wasilla on the second day. |
