January 31, 2009

• Tustumena 200 is on, John Beargrease is over.

  

  Jason Barron won the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon for the second year in a row.  His two championships in that race place him in a tie with his father, John Barron.  The Barrons now live in Montana, but twenty years or so ago they lived right up the road from us here in the Susitna Valley, and John trained his Iditarod team on these back roads.

  The biggest story of the Beargrease concerned the weather and trail conditions.  Twenty-one teams started the 380-mile race, and only six of them finished.  Some of the mushers who scratched cited slick, dangerous trails, wind and cold.

  ——————

  Delayed for a couple of weeks because of the effects warm weather and rain had on the trail, the Tustumena 200 race got underway today.  There had been some speculation that it would have to be cancelled this year, but a few days of colder weather and snow enabled today’s start.

  The current undisputed top musher in the world, Lance Mackey, is racing in the T-200 today.  Another competitor is Wattie McDonald from Scotland, who is training this winter on the Kenai Peninsula with Iditarod old-timer Dean Osmar, hoping to finish enough mid-distance races to qualify for the Iditarod, which he hopes to run in 2010.

  Dean’s son, Tim Osmar, is running the T-200 this weekend, his first race since he shattered his ankle while fighting a wildfire at his father’s home in the summer of 2007.  The location of this weekend’s race presents an additional challenge for Tim Osmar.  The race’s course runs close enough to his home that his dogs could decide to leave the trail and go home.

  “Osmar will drive his team down a trail that comes within a half a mile of his backyard, which will likely cause a constant shuffling of leaders and untangling of dogs who think they should veer off the race trail toward home.

  “‘It’s not the best way to win a race,’ said Osmar.”

  adn.com

  

  • 9:47 pm
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