Young Kotzebue musher plans to run Junior Iditarod — ‘doing it for real this time’

From the moment she saw a dog team for the first time, to the first ride on a sled, to training and racing, Bristol Huffman’s love for dog mushing has only been growing.

“I remember when I first saw the dogs, I was so shocked; my first question was, ‘Do you know all of their names?’”

Now Bristol Rayne Huffman, 15, is a Kotzebue 10th-grader who plans to run in Iditarod again this year. She gathered $6,063 of $7,000 to help her buy all the necessary sled equipment and dog supplies.

Huffman was first introduced to dog mushing during the 2019 Kobuk 440 Sled Dog Race in Kotzebue where she had a chance to greet dogs, meet top mushers and volunteer by helping take care of dogs.

After that experience, Huffman started helping local mushers take care of their dog teams and trained with Kotzebue musher Dempsey Woods, Jr. for several years. She previously ran the Jr. Kobuk 440, KDMA Woman’s sprint race and the Jr. Iditarod where she finished 12th place.

She will continue it in Willow with Jessi Michelle at Aimaagvik Kennel.

Huffman’s hope now is to return to Jr. Iditarod, the race for young mushers between 14 and 17 that covers about 150 miles outside Anchorage.

When Huffman ran in the race last year, the air was 30 degrees, so the trail melted, and the race was rerouted. Instead of mushing for 150 miles, young racers ran 30 miles along the Denali Highway, returned for the night and repeated that on the second day.

“The Denali highway – it was just straight,” she said.

She said that while “it was nice to see everything,” she prefers trails that run through the hills and are surrounded by trees.

“It keeps me awake more,” she said.

The race on Feb. 25 will require mushers to run more than 50 miles the first day, rest for at least 10 hours of rest and run back.

She said she is excited about “getting the overnight stuff – like doing it for real this time.”