Mushers expect fast track for Rondy race

"It's awesome," said Christine Tozier, president of the Alaskan Sled Dog and Racing Association, which organizes the race.

Randy DeKuiper of Hesperia, Mich., called the trail "excellent."

Race marshal Janet Clarke said that while the three-day event is a speed race -- not the endurance contest of the Iditarod -- the focus is not on setting a new overall record.

"The conditions and the course change too much from year to year," she said.

The one constant is that the portion of the course that uses city streets is usually soft and slow because it goes over snow hauled in each day.

This year a new steel bridge in the University Lake area will make a big difference, Clarke said. It eliminates a notorious stretch with a wicked S-curve followed by a sudden corner.

"The new bridge is like four lanes wide," she said. "It gives us a great straight stretch for passing and head-ons. It changes the dynamic of the race."

Since the first Rondy sled dog competition in 1946, the race has been cancelled five times due to no snow or poor track conditions. The 1994 race was called off after two days due to high winds.

The forecast at press time held a possibility of higher temperatures with snow or even rain today. But the base is thick and cold enough to withstand even a williwaw at this point. Predictions for the rest of the weekend call for temperatures between 0 and 20 degrees, accompanied by blue skies and calm winds.

The race starts at noon at 4th Ave. and D Street. Kotzebue musher Luke Sampson will take the first team out.

Blayne "Buddy" Streeper (bib No. 17) of Fort Nelson, British Columbia, and Egil Ellis (12) of Willow, who between them have one every race since 1999, are expected to have the leading teams again. Streeper is the defending champion, while Ellis scratched last year after posting a respectable first day time but slowing on the second day.

Several other competitors in this year's race finished in the top 10 last year -- runnerups Arleigh Reynolds, Jason Dunlap, Bill Kornmuller Ken Chezik Marvin Kokrine, Brent Beck , John Erhart and Will Kornmuller.

Reach Mike Dunham at mdunham@adn.com or 257-4332.