Sports

No snow means no Tustumena 200

For the second year in a row, the Kenai Peninsula's Tustumena 200 has been canceled due to poor trail conditions.

The race's board of directors decided to call off the 200-mile race on Thursday after hearing a trail report, which indicated unsafe conditions because of a lack of snow.

"While some snow did fall Thursday it wasn't nearly enough to make a safe route for 45-plus sled dog teams," according to a press release issued Thursday night.

"All possible options for a trail have been explored and we just don't have the snow to make it happen. With the seven-day forecast calling for mid-30s and rain, the snow we might get over the next few days will most certainly be gone by the 21st."

The announcement came two days after Iditarod officials, citing sparse snow and rough trail, decided to move the start of their race from the Valley to Fairbanks, something that has happened only once previously in the race's 42-year history.

The Tustumena 200 had been originally scheduled for Feb. 7, but lack of snow prompted officials to postpone the race by two weeks in the hope more snow would come by then.

It didn't.

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"The lower sections of the trail have minimal snow with exposed roots and are ice rinks with monster ruts," race officials said. "We considered smaller teams but with no snow you can't set a hook, you can't even mark the trail."

This year's race would have been the 30th running of the 200-mile race that typically goes from Clam Gulch to Homer and back.

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