Training team, raising funds for drive to Alaska
ATLANTIC MINE -- On a picturesque winter morning, Katherine Manderfield and her team run the trail behind her house. It's something they do every other day in Atlantic Mine.
They're up to 30-mile training runs and will soon switch to 50. It's all in preparation for the Jr iditarod. The 150-mile event in Wasilla, Alaska is scheduled for February 28 and March 1. Roughly 25 teenage mushers participate each year.
"The terrain is mostly flat," said Manderfield. "I'm training on mostly flat terrain here. It's basically the same, a little colder. I heard it's dryer up there, too."
Sixteen-year-old Kat ran the Midnight Run with her team last February, finishing 21st. While she's confident about her training schedule, she needs money, roughly $10,000, to make the weeklong, cross country trip with ten dogs.
"That would go into mainly for gas to get up there," Kat said. "I do need a parka to wear, so that would go into a parka. It would go into motel rooms and I need a truck to get up there."
She's raised some money, but plans to do fund-raisers through the holiday season, maybe offering rides with Coho, Sox, Fritz, Hagler, Colombia, and Raven.
A benefit dinner for Kat and her team will take place at the Range Snowmobile Club in Atlantic Mine on Saturday, December 13. The cost is $10.00 and there will also be a silent auction to raise additional funds.
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