IditaProject Forum

RAIMIS2 wrote:... I assumed Underwood was running King's dogs, not the Seavey 3rd team or whatever it is.

When this year’s race starts Sunday at Deshka Landing, Underwood will again run a race champion’s dogs, but it won’t be the same one. Underwood left his job with King last summer when the pandemic halted his tourist-related work.

Dallas Seavey, who will return to Iditarod for the first time since 2017, offered Underwood a chance to train and run a team from his Talkeetna kennel. Unlike last year, Underwood has spent months getting ready.
<snip>
It’s hard to know how many chances he’ll have to complete the Iditarod since he doesn’t own a team. The musher lifestyle is hard to sustain, he thought of starting his own kennel seems like a remote possibility right now. But this year, he feels lucky for one more chance to complete unfin [sic] and drop the rookie designation from his name.

At Seavey’s kennel in Talkeetna last month, he took delivery of a borrowed sled. Then he hooked up a team for a short run on a cool, sunny day. thinking about how special it would be to finish the 2021 Iditarod, but he’s been looking forward to the race’s start for nearly a year.