A record 26 mushers are entered in the 2007 Jr. Iditarod, nine veterans and 17 rookies. This year’s race will begin on Saturday morning, February 24, at 10 a.m. at Knik Lake, about 13 miles out Knik Goose Bay Road in Wasilla. The mushers will race to the half way point at the Yentna Station Roadhouse, home of the Dan Gabryszak family. The mushers will take their mandatory 10 hour layover there before leaving in the morning for the finish at the Willow Community Center. This is the first year the Jr. Iditarod will start at one location and finish at another. The list of 2007 mushers and their bios may be found elsewhere on the Jr. Iditarod website: www. jriditarod.com. Scholarships will be awarded to the top five finishers as well as to the winners of the sportsmanship and humanitarian awards. The scholarships, awarded this year by special donors, will total $13,000 with a $5,000 scholarship going to the winner, a $3,000 scholarship to the second place finisher, a $1,500 scholarship to the third place finisher, a $1,000 scholarship to the fourth place finisher and a $500 scholarship to the fifth place finisher. The winners of the two awards will each receive a $1,000 scholarship.Additionally the winner of the 2007 Jr. Iditarod will go to Nome to be introduced at the Iditarod Awards Banquet there on March 18 and will go out of Anchorage in front of the Iditarod mushers at the start of the 2007 Iditarod Trail Race. For more information, contact the Iditarod headquarters at 907-352-2203. Updates will be posted on this website during the race.
