Over the weekend, 17-year old Jeremiah Klejka claimed victory in the Junior Iditarod, completing the 180 mile course in 1 day, 11 hours, and 46 minutes. The race, which is open to teens between the age of 14-17, serves as an annual precursor to the 1100+ mile Iditarod, which will get underway next weekend in Anchorage.
This was Klejka's third running of the Junior and he hopes it will be a springboard to the much bigger event in years to come. The high school junior has been mushing since he was six years old, when both he and his sister took up the sport. Sister Jessica won the event back in 2008.
Anitra Winkler came in second place, about 26 minutes behind Klejka. Third place went to Emily Krol, who finished another 22 minutes back.
In other Iditarod news, the National Geographic Adventure Blog has post today on the "Last Great Race," which not only gives a bit of detail on the event, and what it takes to compete, but also goes into musher Oswald “Newton” Marshall's techniques for staying warm on the trail. You see, Oswald is from Jamaica, which isn't exactly a hotbed of dogsledding champions. But he loves to race none-the-less, even though the cold may have a bigger effect on him than some of the other racers. To keep the blood flowing, Marshall will sometimes stay active by dancing.
The article also talks about four time winner Lance Mackey and his fight with cancer. It's an excellent read all around and a great way to prepare for the Iditarod this weekend.
