Mushers drew their bib numbers tonight for the 38th running of the Junior Iditarod. Parents, board members and volunteers were on hand to share in the festivities of the pizza party and musher meeting. Mushers drew their bib number in the order they signed up for the race.

Six rookies and five veterans will take to the trail in Cantwell on Sunday March 1st for the 130 round trip out to Alpine Creek Lodge and back. The Celebration of Success and awards banquet will be held at the Cantwell school on Monday evening as the conclusion of the race.

All returning veterans participated in the 2014 Iditarod. Kevin Harper claimed 3rd place, Jimmy Lanier 4th place, Andrew Nolan 5th, Janelle Trowbridge 6th and Nicole Forto received the Red Lantern.

Joining the veterans are Anchorage musher Katie Deits; Willow mushers Dakota Schlosser and Jordan Seager; Bethel musher Joan Klejka; Healy musher Rose Capistrant and Chugiak musher Marianna Mallory.

Kipmik Products donated four 100 packs of dog booties for a drawing at the musher meeting. Mushers taking packages of booties home include Jordan Seager, Joan Klejka, Andrew Nolan and Nicole Forto. Congrats to the winners and many thanks to Kipmik for their support of the Junior Iditarod.

Lynden Transportation is a major sponsor of the Junior Iditarod. Lynden supplies money for scholarships for the top finishers along with the Sportsmanship award and the Humanitarian award. Ethan Bradford of Lynden says, “ Lynden’s primary purpose is to support the education of these young mushers and in turn the Junior Iditarod. Lynden believes that the Iditarod is a very important aspect of Alaskan culture and heritage and that it needs to be preserved for future generations.” Many thanks to Lynden organization for their continued support and sponsorship of the Junior Iditarod.

The order the mushers will depart the start is listed below. Start differential will be added to the 10-hour Alpine Creek Lodge layover.

 1 – Honorary Musher Jayne Hempstead, DVM

2 – Dakota Schlosser

3 – Kevin Harper

4 – Jordan Seager

5 – Andrew Nolan

6 – Katie Deits

7 – Nicole Forto

8 – Marianna Mallory

9 – Rose Capistrant

10 – Joan Klejka

11 – Janelle Trowbridge

12 – Jimmy Lanier

There’s a lot of power to positive thinking. Take a look at the sweatshirt Kevin Harper was wearing for the bib draw. Good luck and God speed to all the Junior Mushers. I’m very much looking forward to the trip up the Parks Highway to Cantwell and the job of being the “official” starter for the race.