Alaska Dog Mushers Association kick-off 2021 with preliminary races

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - On a cold, wintry Sunday at the Mushers Hall on Farmers Loop, the Alaska Dog Mushers Association (ADMA) held their first preliminary races of 2021 as dogs and mushers descended upon the race grounds.

The Open North American Championships were cancelled in March last year due to COVID-19, and it has been a long 10 months since teams blazed down the trails. The ADMA held skijor, four-team, six-team, eight/10 team and open races with mushers looking to knock-off the rust from the long offseason.

“There’s enough snow which is great and everybody wants to be outside doing things, so yeah it’s awesome.” said ADMA musher Iris Sutton.

Sutton wasn’t the only one in her family that raced on Sunday, as Iris Sutton also competed in the skijor event. The Erharts were also in representation on the day with Jennifer Probert-Erhart and Zoey Erhart taking on the cold temperatures.

Florian Philip showed off as a junior entrant and claimed first overall with a time of 16 minutes and 40.5 seconds in the skijor event. Tricia Nelson and Iris Sutton rounded off the top-three. In the four-dog, Kriya Dunlap separated from the pack with a time of 15 minutes and 6.7 seconds, beating the field by nearly two minutes. Dawn Brown and Brianna Sanford finished in second and third.

For the six-dog, Nikki Seo grabbed a time of 19 minutes and 4.3 seconds beating out Kristen Eckwright by 40 seconds. Edie Forest ended in third. Jennifer Probert-Erhart took the 8/10 race while Gary Markely took the open over Beth Callis.

“You can see around the parking lot, it’s easy for people to keep a lot of space here,” said ADMA Board Member Dawn Brown. “Dog mushing is probably the ultimate socially distant sport.”

The next preliminary race date for ADMA is set for January 17 at the Mushers Hall.

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