North Dakota teen competing in Junior Iditarod this weekend

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – It may look like spring here in North Dakota, but over 3000 miles away in Alaska, one North Dakota teen and her team of sled dogs are dashing through the snow.

Eva Robinson is racing in this weekend’s Junior Iditarod Sled Dog Race. This is the second time the 17-year-old from Cavalier has competed in the competition. Her first time, back in 2022, was slightly modified due to weather.

“I am walking into this a little bit new, like a half-rookie should I say,” Robinson said. “But the past experience really taught me a lot about perseverance, and not quitting and just really putting in every step towards making it to the finish line, and I think that’s really going to help.”

Weather has also played a factor this year, affecting how Robinson can train. Warmer weather during the day forced her to train at night throughout the fall. Without snow on the ground, she has had to improvise as well.

“Without snow, mushing sled dogs is incredibly difficult. So you do a lot of runs on gravel roads,” she said. “It’s like running on a treadmill over and over again. It gets boring, it gets long, but it gets the miles in.”

This weekend’s race will be the longest she has ever competed in, but will help her to hopefully qualify for the full Iditarod in the future. While that’s a goal for Robinson, she says her dogs are always her number one priority.

“What matters the most to me isn’t where we place, it could be first it could be last it could be not even finishing at all as long as the dogs are safe and happy and they’re having the best time they possibly could have.”

The Junior Iditarod kicked off Saturday morning and will end Sunday evening. To see how Eva Robinson is doing, visit the Junior Iditarod webpage.

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