Iditarod sign-ups start Saturday among changing rules

Published Friday, June 27, 2008

ANCHORAGE -- It's sign-up time for mushers wanting to participate in the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The entry fee for next year's race will be $4,000 - a $1,000 jump from this year's event and more than double the $1,860 fee for the previous year.

Another change is a smaller guaranteed purse - $660,000 compared to this year's total take of $935,000. The winner, however, will still get $69,000 and a new pickup.

Race organizers also are limiting the competitive field to 100 teams.

Race organizers blame the changes on climbing expenses, most notably those linked to soaring energy costs.

Sign-ups in person begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 28, at race headquarters in Wasilla. A volunteer appreciation picnic is scheduled to begin there at noon.

Community Discussion

Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.

Post a comment

Commenting requires registration.

Username:
Password: (Forgotten your password?)

Comment:

Also inside
Today's news / Photos / Local / Alaska / Sports / Opinion
Features
Sundays / Health / Food / Outdoors / Latitude 65 / Youth / Business
newsminer.com
Archives / About / Feedback / Privacy Policy / User Agreement / Jobs / Contact / Feeds / Bookstore
Submit
Letters to the Editor / Events / Obituaries
Alaska Web design by Verticentric Design