Travis Beals enters Iditarod
Submitted Photo
Travis Beals gets ready for his first Iditarod run.
Turning Heads Kennel
Seward local Travis Beals, 20, has signed up his first Iditarod. The rookie musher is excited about his first 1,000-mile sled dog race in March of 2013. Beals has dreamed of the race since he was a young boy. “I’m excited to finally be doing it,” he said, “My goal for this year is just to finish the race but obviously I want to do well, too.”
Beals raised most of his 35 sled dogs and most are fairly young, but he has “a few solid veterans who will see me to the finish line.” He trains at his kennel on Herman Leirer Road. A few of the dogs ran the 2010 Iditarod with Jamaican musher Newton Marshall and with Lance Mackey’s stepson Cain Carter.
The 2013 Iditarod will travel the Iditarod’ southern route, commonly thought to be more difficult than the northern route because of the strong headwinds that mushers and their teams face as they travel up the Yukon River. Beals is no stranger to dog racing though, having placed second in the 2009 Junior Iditarod, sixth in the 2010 Tiaga 300, and a third in this year’s Northern Lights 300 where he bested many top Iditarod veterans.
Submitted Photo
Travis Beals makes it official — he’s running the 2013 Iditarod.
Beals is looking forward to fall training. “We have a good group of dogs in the kennel,” he said, “I’m excited to see their performance this year.”
Although the race is still a long way off, Beals is already planning how he will fund his big race. “I just opened a dogsledding business to help promote my kennel and fund my race team,” said Beals. “I’m giving Seward locals tours for Iditarod donations and working on putting together other fundraisers.”
Iditarod mushers often quote the race costing them somewhere between $20,000 and $40,000. “It definitely is an expensive race,” said Beals. “But we’ll make it work.” Beals is accepting donations of freezer burned fish or meat.
Beals can be contacted at TurningHeadsKennel@gmail.com and be followed as he trains at www.Facebook.com/TuringHeadsKennel.