Iditarod 2010!!!

Despite the bad weather in the Southern Part of the state it appears the Iditarod trail conditions are soft snow, mild winds and on again off again snow flurries....Many possible complications came up before this years big dog race and for awhile I was afraid they might cause the race to be canceled. Thanks to several BIG "donners" there is enough money for the finishing mushers to receive their thousand-forty-nine for completing the race, Thanks to God the ground is still frozen and covered in snow...despite our early spring break. So lets start with thanking Jeff King for giving such a large donation. Who will take his money in this race... He himself ran an excellent race last year and stands a good chance of keeping his money...but... We have a few of our older named mushers ready to retire from long distance racing some for age issues, some for their own health and some for the health of their families...Who will want to go out with that first position as their "last race". Kudos to Dee Dee Jonrowe, and may our prayers be with her mother as she faces yet again another battle with cancer. So with the economy issues most of our mushers this year come from the North American Continent...although Wattie McDonald in Bib number 4 and John Stewart in Bid number 69 traveled from Scotland with their dog teams to compete in "The Last Great Race"...Wearing Bib 66, Sam Deltour traveled from Belgium for his chance at taking on The Last Frontier. Rookies are common to this race and one in particular deserves some watching... Newton Marshal from St. Anna Jamaica, A rookie to Mushing with his start just three years ago, he trained under Hans Gatt until 2009 when he began his training for the 2010 Iditarod. In March of 2008 he was deemed ready to race his first short distance race...210-mile Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race finishing seventh out of fifteen. In January 2009 he finished thirteenth out of twenty-seven in the Alaska Copper Basin 300. In February of this same year he finished 13th out of twenty-nine in the Yukon Quest...a thousand miles across frozen arctic tundra. Racing against the best of the best in a climate far from his comfort zone. Finishing the Quest he approached the 2009 winner and began his training for the 2010 Iditarod with Lance Mackey....racing in Bid number 14 he is doing well keeping in the center of the pack... So...From Scotland to Canada, Belgium to the USA many have come, many will start, some will scratch some will endure, some will be in the top of the stats...May they all give it their best, enjoy the run, and know this girl will continue to admire their courage from the warmth of her living room....mush on!!