From Chicago to Anchorage: Musher Meeting by Jackie Denton

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Today was an exhausting whirlwind of activity. The three Teacher on the Trail finalists each gave their 45- minute presentation. After that, the first speaker for the day was KattiJo Deeter. She is an Iditarod veteran and her husband, Jeff Deeter is running in this year’s race. They run Black Spruce Kennels in Fairbanks, AK. She told us about their dogs, kennel and what it takes to prepare and run an Iditarod race. The second speaker of the day was Bridgett Watkins. She has written a book called Marker to Marker, which documents the different types of challenges she had to overcome to finally accomplish her goal of finishing the 2023 Iditarod. It is a great book with a moose attack as well as having to call for a rescue in the 2022 Iditarod because she and another musher got stuck in a life-threatening storm.

We then had the privilege of meeting Barbara Redington, her father-in-law, Joe Redington was the founder of the Iditarod race. She is the backbone of the Junior Iditarod. It is a 150-mile race for ages 14-17. The teenage mushers travel 75 miles and then have a mandatory ten hour rest before they turn around and race back to the start.

Next up was the teenage phenomenon, Emily Robinson! She just won her 4^th Junior Iditarod last Sunday. That makes her the only person to ever win that many. She is 17 years old and told us about how she ended up here. She is an amazing person to listen to and if you ever doubt that you can do something, just remember that even though you may not enjoy practicing, the goal is achievable.

Tonight was the night for the Musher Meet and Greet as well as the Musher Banquet. This is when they draw from a mukluk for their starting positions in the Iditarod. Here is a picture of our Husky pal. He still doesn’t have a name. If you have an idea for a name for him, email me @ [email protected] He was enjoying watching the mushers draw for their numbers. Tomorrow is the end of the Educator’s conference and then Saturday is the Ceremonial Start.