Even though the 2018 Iditarod is still more than a month away, Nome mushers are already competing in their own sled dog races, just outside of town. - Nome, Alaska 
Nome Mushers Hit the Trail in 8-Mile, 20-Mile Races
Over the weekend, four local teams finished 8-mile and 20-mile races, both hosted by the Nome Kennel Club. According to race marshal Neil Strandberg, Cynthia Barrand was the lone musher to race the 8-mile trail on Saturday, which followed the Gold Hill loop. Barrand’s team featured younger dogs from fellow musher Stephanie Masters-Johnson’s kennel.
Johnson ran the 20-mile trail along with Diana Haecker and Nils Hahn. All three teams started near the City snow dump at noon on Saturday with ten dogs on the towline.
The mushers left in two minute intervals, with Haecker going first, followed by Hahn and Johnson, consecutively. None of the teams passed other competitors on the route around Gold Hill Loop and the Golf Ball loop, east of the Beam Road, so everyone finished the way they started.
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