Mushers Hot on the Trail!

Mushers are off and running this morning — how cool to see students so excited to get running as soon as the race date opened!

For anyone who was wanting to join but hasn't yet, you can still get signed up. The race runs through April 30, and new teams can subscribe at any time between now and that date.

Meanwhile, I got the Alaska Native language phrases, vocabulary and place names posted at each checkpoint. My heartfelt thanks to Susan Paskvan, who serves as the native language teacher at the Yukon-Koyukuk School District in Alaska, for her time and efforts in compiling local place names for many of the checkpoints along the trail. I also used the Dena'ina Qenaga Digital Archive for including some interesting Dena'ina phrases for other checkpoints. Team Managers will find a helpful PDF that lists links to many of these phrases, where there are audio clips of Sava Stephan speaking these phrases. This is one great way to keep native language alive in well, not just in Alaska, but across all of North America.