3 minute read
Volunteers make all the difference
Our volunteers:
The backbone of the race
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For the past 11 years, Dave McKibbon has been instrumental in making sure the World’s Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race goes off without a hitch. The biggest hurdle in making that happen is assuring that there is enough help along every checkpoint of the racecourse.
And fortunately, for McKibbon, it isn’t a big ask.
“We have a lot of the same people, year after year after year,” said McKibbon, whose work gets underway in November or December to nail down logistics. “The excitement level is actually pretty cool to deal with each year because it takes a little bit of time for them to get in race mode, but once they are, they just know what to do.”
McKibbon estimates that it takes between 200 and 225 volunteers to put on the Iron Dog – the number of hours these selfless individuals put in are in the thousands, he added.
“We’ve got 21 checkpoints and most of them are going to have four to five people, so there’s a good 100 to 125 volunteers in the checkpoints themselves,” he said. “And then you have people at the start and the finish, for the teardown and staging, and staking the trail. It’s a lot of help, and every volunteer is appreciated.”
Every year, new challenges arise, and McKibbon said it is the volunteers – especially in the remote communities – who make things happen.
“They are always there and always willing to do what it takes,” he said. “For example, a couple of years ago we had logistics problems getting planes where they needed to be and couldn’t get supplies out of Unalakleet to Koyuk. The racers had literally left on the way to Koyuk, just as the planes called to say they were leaving.”
It became a race of plane against snowmachine, he said.
“I called (Koyuk checker) Darin Douglas and said, ‘A plane is flying right now, the racers are coming right now.’”
Before he could finish his sentence, McKibbon said Douglas told him: “‘Dave I will have people at the airport, don’t worry.’ And he did. It’s things like that that make the race come together.” McKibbon said every single volunteer deserves a special thank-you: Doug Heath of Takotna who mans the Ophir checkpoint; the McCoy family in Selawik, who despite the passing of longtime volunteer Della McCoy, and Tom McCoy’s current illness, still plan to be race-ready when the time comes; to the new checkers who will be stationed at Nikolai and Noorvik and beyond. With only three weeks to go before race day, McKibbon said the volunteers are ready. “Everybody is really revved up right now.”
COURTESY DAVE MCKIBBON Longtime Nikolai volunteer Winchell Ticknor is retiring this year.
COURTESY DAVE MCKIBBON Dave McKibbon and his wife, Penny, head to McGrath to volunteer during the Iron Dog race.
Race course mileage
Northbound to Nome
Big Lake to Skwentna..........................80 Skwentna to Shell Lake.......................17 Shell Lake to Puntilla...........................51 Puntilla to Rohn..................................65 Rohn to Nikolai ..................................74 Nikolai to McGrath..............................52 McGrath to Ophir.... ...........................42 Ophir to Poorman...............................93 Poorman to Ruby................................61 Ruby to Galena...................................52 Galena to Kaltag..................................86 Kaltag to Unalakleet...........................85 Unalakleet to Shaktoolik.....................41 Shaktoolik to Koyuk............................62 Koyuk to White Mountain..................90 White Mountain to Nome..................70
Nome to White Mountain .................70 White Mtn to Koyuk...........................90 Koyuk to Buckland..............................87 Buckland to Selawik .........................68 Selawik to Kiana..................................38 Kiana to Norvik...................................21 Norvik to Kotzebue.............................65 Kotzebue to Buckland.........................95 Buckland to Koyuk..............................87 Koyuk to Shaktoolik............................62 Shaktoolik to Unalakleet.....................41 Unalakleet to Kaltag............................85 Kaltag to Galena .................................86 Galena to Ruby...................................52 Ruby to Poorman................................61 Poorman to Ophir................................93 Ophir to McGrath...............................42 McGrath to Nikolai .............................52 Nikolai to Rohn...................................74 Rohn to Puntilla..................................65 Puntilla to Shell Lake..........................51 Shell Lake to Skwentna......................17 Skwentna to finish.............................80
