ITC limits numbers

[tanglefoot]

petrol and diesel in the uk where i live is high , i paid £1.35(.9) a litre today for fuel so thats about $12 a gallon !!! i can only aford to put $30 a time in the dog truck to drive it around, which lasts about 120 miles. we try and use ems car as much as possible as its a bit cheaper to run.

i would be worried with the sign up that soem of the overseas mushers might not be able to make the sign up, although i guess they will have sent postal entries in before. guess the firsty come first served works best unless the 100 spots are filled at the picnic.

[Moose]

Here's an ADN report on raising the entry fee and lowering the purse. If the lower purse was reported somewhere earlier, I missed it. "The times, they are a-changing."

http://www.adn.com/front/story/424822.html

[MotorWerk]

Iditarod will still be THE race to win and I doubt they will have problems filling up the "100" quota. However, with the the guaranteed price money down I'm sure a lot of smaller kennels will think "why bother"...

It would be interesting to hear what Rick Holt thinks about this.

[Moose]

You're right, Motor. The Iditarod is The Last Great Race and holds incredible attraction for so many folks. I don't think the ITC will ever have trouble filling the field. Dog sports are increasing in popularity and participation all the time, whether it be at internationally, nationally, or regionally competitive levels or simply someone like me who just loves to be out on the trail with furry friends. From the standpoints of safety and logistics, though, it does seem the field needs to be reduced. It's just going to be exceptionally hard to find a fair, all-encompassing, non-exclusionary system. Power to The Powers That Be.

Some musings as I sit here on the East Coast, dogs underfoot, rain falling on the roof: Most of the teams that head out on the trail don't expect to win. Heck, the goal for most teams is merely to reach Nome with happy, healthy dogs. Outside of the top competitors and the ambitious competitor hopefuls, isn't it really the allure, the history, the romance, of being out on the Iditarod trail with a team of awesome dogs that's the attraction? Someone, either here or on another list, suggested that entrepreneurial kennels might provide a service and earn a nice income by facilitating an Iditarod experience for smaller kennels with bigger ambitions or the rest of us romantics by organizing and hosting an Iditarod "non-race". I suspect there are many out here who would (and already do) suffer the hardships, revel in the history, and pay a hefty fee to take "B" or other teams up the trail.

And you know, if the Iditarod (who will turn teams away) and the Quest (with a much smaller field traditionally) could somehow work together, pool their resources, market themselves together but individually, there would be more room for serious competitors and hopeful finishers for years to come.

Change, any change, is tough but inevitable. Hopefully there are some thoughtful and creative folks putting their heads together who will come up with thoughtful and creative solutions to this dilemma.

[MotorWerk]

Maybe in the future we will see the Iditarod split into two competitions; one for the pros - and one for the "amateurs", or maybe we'll see the race divided into two distances, like a full- and half marathon...? But that would also mean a huge logistical effort since there would have to be two starting points, not to mention that it would probably cost too much.

I'm going on a short holiday later today - back on Tuesday. So long.

[Heidi]

I'm going on a short holiday later today - back on Tuesday. So long.

Have fun!

[tanglefoot]

have a ncie holiday MW

[mithious]

Here's an ADN report on raising the entry fee and lowering the purse. If the lower purse was reported somewhere earlier, I missed it. "The times, they are a-changing."

http://www.adn.com/front/story/424822.html

I was hoping, when I learned about this, when I was up in AK, that the ITC would take the money they are sinking into the "insider" instead of putting the burden on the mushers.....sigh....guess my hopes where misplaced

I sure wish they'd go back to offering free content and stop wasting money on that insider thing.....the membership isn't enough to justify the cost!!!!!!! AND the money could be much better spent on running the race!!!!!

[txbennett]

Although my sole source of income is Social Security and a modest 401(k), and I'm one of the older fans (71), I'm happy and grateful to pay my modest annual membership fee to ITC, to subscribe to the Insider (a bargain of information for the price) and to buy two or three less expensive items each year from the ITC store. All in all, for around $100 total, this is the best entertainment value I receive each year -- for a couple of decades now and still counting.

I will continue to make my modest entertainment investment each year, and to be grateful to the ITC staff and volunteers for making The Last Great Race on Earth available even to those of us in Texas who seldom get to experience snow or freezing temperatures.

TXbennett