Good afternoon Team. I have had a few side conversations with folks on various concerns so decided to attempt to share what I know / think / feel as of today. We are still planning the Serum Run Expedition 2020 and I am more than excited to embark on this journey together with other mushers and trail folks. It sounds like we have all have gifts of knowledge and experiences to offer the team and I hope to learn more about each of you over the next few months. (On a side note, did you know that Marla BB is currently in Sweden participating in the IFSS 2019 Dryland-World-Championships? We are cheering for you and your team Marla).

Here is where we are as I see it… The deposit of $500 is due to Kirsten Bey, our trip treasurer on November 1st. The deposit will cover lodging, trailstaking and potentially straw. So that everyone understands where their money is going and how it is being used, once each stop has been arranged and a price is given by the Village or Lodge, we will let you know what is being charged by that particular location. We plan to begin calling each place for costs very soon after the November 1st deadline for the deposit. Soon after November 1st, we should know the exact number of folks who will participate.

The next issue is shipping. I have spoken to Northern Air Cargo and they will quote us shipping rates for dogs, machines, and sleds once I have the following information. Estimates are all that I need at this point.
1. How many dogs do you plan to run from Nenana to Nome that will need shipping from Nome to Anchorage?
2. Are you planning to ship crates or a large dog box? If a dog box, can you give approximate dimensions and weight? Phil may be able to give a rough estimate on this.
3. Approximate weight and length of sled.
4. Approximate weight and lenth of snow machine.
*Remember that if you are club 49 or just traveling within the State with Alaska Airlines, you can ship 3 – 50 lbs bags to Anchorage from Nome or back from Nome as baggage.

Robert, Phil and I have been planning this expedition for a long time now and we feel that for the purposes of risk management, having a schedule to present to those whose lands we will be crossing / villages and making sure we follow the protocol set forth by the Bureau of Land Management we will need to adhere to the schedule that has been established in previous Serum Runs. The schedule is listed on the portal outlining mileage, runs, and stops for each of the Villages or places we will visit. I know there has been questions concerning the “permit”. The permit is something that required by the Bureau of Land Management IF we run any type commercial business or if is perceived we are gaining anything from the trip other than our own fun and experience. Robert and I outlined the trip for the Iditarod Trails Manager for the BLM as a “group of people following the schedule outlined before and for our own benefit”. No one is receiving any financial compensation or gains of goods from this trip. If we change this plan/schedule in any way, there is a chance the BLM may require us to acquire a permit and, if that happens, the trip is off because they ask that you apply for the permit 6 months prior to the trip. For this reason, we cannot say we are the Norman Vaughan Serum Run because on their expedition there were folks on the trip who were compensated by other members on the expedition for being trail boss, musher coordinators, etc. If we say we are the same, the outcome would be a permit. No one on our expedition will receive discounted or waived fees in any form.

Another thing that I wanted to describe is the “sign project” as one of our potential service projects. Here’s the scoop on that…. the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance and Bureau of Land Management have been working for years to put signs on existing trail markers / tripods that identify Safety Cabins, Villages, mileage to Safety Cabins or Villages, arrows in confusing or treacherous parts of the trail, etc. There are some sections of the trail that have been marked but others, due to the inaccessibility during the summer time (mainly too much standing water, bogs), have not been marked. We thought about how nice it would be to give back to the Iditarod Historic Trail by marking a section of the trail as a service project. (Just a small section and not the entire time we are the Iditarod section of the trial). When speaking to the Iditarod Historic Trail administrator, he felt that the section between White Mountain and Nome or Safety Roadhouse would be a great section because this has been the most dangerous in terms of storms / lack visibility in the past few years. There have been several Iditarod mushers who have had major difficulty in this section of trail that have prompted rescues and Nome has had numerous search and rescues of those traveling from the villages to Nome and getting caught in storms along this section of the trail. This section is home to the infamous “blowhole”. This project would be minimal as they would send the signs to the villages, we pick them up and place them on existing structures. None of the signs are over 18 inches and they are highly reflective.

Dr. Gil Van Sciver is also planning to offer vaccines to the villages who would like them. This will unfold after we secure specific contacts in each village. This too is an exciting project! Thank you Gil.

In addition, there has been another service project or just fun project that a few of us have talked about and wanted to get input from the group. We thought about offering a movie evening in each of the villages if they were interested and showing the new movie the Great Alaskan Race which is all about the Serum Run. I may have a person who is interested donate popcorn to each of the villages that are interested in showing the movie. It would be cool to have each of the mushers learn about a specific village and who from the village participated in the original Serum Run and discuss this briefly before offering the movie. This is just a thought and I would l like to hear your feedback. I just feel this would be an obtainable project that would take little effort on our part but could give a visual of why we are doing what we are doing. We do not want something that will be too time consuming because we will have our chores to accomplish as we stop in various villages.

In closing, thank you for hanging in there and thank you for your dedication. It is my hope (plus Robert and Phil) that in the next couple of weeks we can move forward with more specifics. In the meantime, start thinking about which tasks you would like to be in charge of if you have not already and what information / support you would need in order to accomplish the various tasks.

I appreciate your time and your attention to the various details. During times of frustration and uncertainty, think of all AMAZING sights you hope to see and experiences you hope to encounter along the way.

I can’t wait!!
Sincerely,
Stephanie