By Joseph Robertia
Photo by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. A dog gets excited before leaving the starting line of the 2010 Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race. Organizers are busy planning this season’s event and have already made a few changes to the race.
Redoubt Reporter
As the mercury drops, more than just dog mushers are thinking about the coming winter. Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race organizers are also already busy planning this season’s event.
“It’s coming along, but there’s still a lot to do,” said Tammi Murray, the T-200 executive director.
This year’s race is scheduled for Jan. 29, one week later than originally planned.
“We moved it so that it wouldn’t conflict with the Kuskokwim 300, which was the same weekend,” Murray said. “It’s just one change of a few we’ve made.”
The race’s ceremonial start in Kenai was discontinued several years ago, and this year the pre-race banquet in Soldotna will also be removed.
“It just wasn’t working out for us. It was a lot of time and effort on the volunteers and it just wasn’t good to start that weekend with everyone already tired,” Murray said. “So now it will just be veterinary checks and the mandatory mushers’ meeting the Friday before.”
The pre-race banquet was traditionally where mushers drew their starting orders randomly out of a hat. Without this event, Murray said starting orders will now be determined based on the order mushers sign up.
“It’ll be first come, first served,” she said.
This change is expected to be more of an early incentive for mushers. Signing up early could be more advantageous to mushers, since the first ones out tend to have the best trail conditions and fewer teams to tangle with while passing.
Currently, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is reviewing its format for what constitutes a qualifying race based on mileage and number of rests for mid-distance races. Murray said the T-200 will again be a qualifier for the Last Great Race.
“Last year we had seven or eight mushers use the T as a qualifier,” she said. “This year, it’ll still be a qualifier for the Iditarod and Yukon Quest and it’ll still be a 200-mile race with one mandatory, eight-hour layover at the halfway,” she said.
While the distance and rest is set, what isn’t certain is the path the course will take. While partially decided by snowfall, much is still left to the race marshal’s discretion. This person has yet to be determined, since Kevin Fulton, the former marshal and a trail groomer of many years, decided to step down from the position.
“We’re looking for someone to fill his shoes and take the lead on which way the course should go,” Murray said. “We have to get permits from six different agencies to put the trail in, and the Caribou Hills Cabin Hoppers do a lot, but we still need someone who really knows the hills to make course decisions.”
Murray said race organizers are in negotiations with Ninilchik resident Tim Osmar to potentially assist with trail decisions. Osmar is a multiple winner of the T-200 and a musher who has trained in the Caribou Hills for more than 30 years.
In addition to a trail boss, the race is always looking for more volunteers for other positions. Anyone interested in helping with the race is encouraged to come to the next planning meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at Tustumena Elementary School.
As in past years, T-200 organizers are hoping to offer one of the largest purses for a race of its size, but Murray said she couldn’t say what the exact amount will be just yet.
“It’s tough to set the purse until you get all the sponsorship money in, and this is the quarter people decide what they want to commit to us,” she said. “Our goal is to get $25,000, but even if we don’t make it, we should be able to do $20,000, which is still a great purse.”
Running simultaneously to the T-200 are T-100 and Junior T races, which Murray said have continued to grow in popularity in recent years. Sign-up for all races opens Nov 15. The entry fee for the T-200 is $250 on or before Dec. 31 and $350 after Dec. 31. For more information, visit the T-200 website at www.tustumena200.com.
Joseph,
Good article on the T-200. Keep up the good reporting.
Todd