Pete Kaiser and Jessica Klejka of Bethel and Bethel/Knik are mushing in this year’s Iditarod. These hometown mushers along with 36 other teams took off on the Iditarod Trail last Sunday from Willow, AK for the official restart.
Kaiser, the 2019 Iditarod Champion, drew bib #26 and Klejka drew #8 at the Mushers Banquet on February 29th at the Denaina Center in Anchorage.
The 52nd running of the Last Great Race on Earth® includes 27 Alaskans, 4 international mushers, 16 rookies, 22 veterans and 3 former champions. The field of 38 mushers is made up of 11 women and 27. The race will run the Northern Route, where the halfway point will be the Cripple checkpoint.
Over 1,000 race fans, sponsors and supporters filled up the Dena’ina Civic Convention Center for the annual Iditarod Mushers Drawing Banquet. The banquet is the largest fundraiser for the Iditarod Trail Committee, which is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization.
Mushers were bid farewell and a good race at the Ceremonial Start on Satuday, March 2nd, in downtown Anchorage where crowds lined the streets to cheer and Iditariders got to ride with their mushers.
The first checkpoint on the trail is the Yentna Station Roadhouse, a distance of 53 miles from Willow. Have a good race!
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