ANCHORAGE, Alaska Deep snow is slowing down mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, but the leader has a secret for dealing with the difficult conditions.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Deep snow is slowing down mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, but the leader has a secret for dealing with the difficult conditions.
“I’ve been training with 120 pounds of concrete and all the gear in the sled,” Thomas Waerner, 46, told a camera crew from the Iditarod Insider as he was preparing his sled to leave a checkpoint outside the Alaska community of Kaltag late Saturday.
“That’s perfect for these kind of conditions,” he said.
Waerner, a native of England living in Norway, was first to arrive at the next checkpoint — Unalakleet — on Sunday.
The checkpoint in Kaltag is normally at a community hall, but this year it was set up outside the village of about 235 people, 629 miles miles into the nearly 1,000-mile race across Alaska.
The Iditarod, in consultation with community leaders, decided to bypass Kaltag over fears of the coronavirus. Similar precautions were made in the village of Nulato, where the checkpoint was moved from the village to the Yukon River.
The race, which started March 8, is continuing, but officials have urged fans not to fly to watch the finish, especially those from outside Alaska. The winner is expected in the Bering Sea community of Nome sometime this week.
