Mat-Su mushers dominate 2016 Iditarod field

ANCHORAGE — Anchorage’s Scott Janssen, who owns funeral homes in the Mat-Su and Anchorage and goes by the nickname “The Mushing Mortician,” will be the first musher out of the chute when the 2016 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race gets underway at 2 p.m. Sunday on Willow Lake.

This year’s Valley-dominated field includes a record 85 mushers, of which 28 call the Mat-Su home. That group includes three-time winner and defending champion Dallas Seavey of Willow and four-time champion Martin Buser of Big Lake.

The starting order was determined during a drawing held during a musher’s banquet on Thursday night at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage. Janssen drew bib No. 2, which means he gets the honor of starting first. The No. 1 bib is reserved for an honorary musher.

Willow’s Lisbet Norris will be the first Mat-Su musher on the trail Sunday, leaving in the sixth spot and wearing bib No. 7. Norris leads a contingent of 13 mushers from Willow, the most from any single community in the field. Mat-Su towns make up the top three hometowns in the race, with Wasilla sending eight competitors and Big Lake supplying seven entries for “The Last Great Race.”

There are 25 non-Alaskan teams in this year’s event, with the largest group coming from Norway, which sent eight mushers. "Team Norway" includes two-time champion Robert Sorlie of Hurdal.

The field also includes three mushers from the Yukon Territory, two each from Minnesota and Montana and one from Illinois, New York, Michigan, Oklahoma, Idaho, Wyoming, Alberta, the United Kingdom and Sweden.

A ceremonial start will be held starting at 10 a.m. in downtown Anchorage. Due to a lack of snow in the city, the traditional 11-mile route there has been shortened to about three miles. Instead of ending at the Campbell Airstrip, mushers will pack up at the Davenport Fields complex on Lake Otis Boulevard before driving out to the Valley for Sunday’s official start.

As in prior years, the Iditarod Trail Committee is encouraging spectators at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race restart to use its shuttle service when traveling to Willow on Sunday. Shuttles will depart from Anchorage, Wasilla, Houston and Talkeetna. Trips will leave the Lakefront Hotel in Anchorage at 8 a.m. (volunteers), 9:30 a.m. (volunteers and spectators) and 11 a.m. (spectators). Buses will leave Houston High at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon and 12:30 p.m. Buses will leave the Talkeetna Sunshine Restaurant at 11 a.m. and noon. Buses will leave Wasilla High at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 12:15 p.m., 12:30 p.m., 12:45 p.m. and 1 p.m. There will also be buses leaving from the Menard Center in Wasilla at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and noon. Return buses to all locations will leave Willow at 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. For more information, visit Iditarod.com.

Here’s a complete list of Sunday’s starting order, with Mat-Su mushers highlighted:

1. Honorary

2. Scott Janssen, Anchorage

3. Jessie Royer, Darby, Mont.

4. Nathan Schroeder, Chisholm, Minn.

5. Allen Moore, Two Rivers

6. Ketil Reitan, Kaktovik

7. Lisbet Norris, Willow

8. Monica Zappa, Kasilof

9. Charley Bejna, Addison, Ill.

10. Cim Smyth, Big Lake

11. Peter Kaiser, Bethel

12. Nicholas Petit, Girdwood

13. Aliy Zirkle, Two Rivers

14. Jodi Bailey, Fairbanks

15. James Volek, Big Lake

16. Dallas Seavey, Willow

17. Kelly Maixner, Big Lake

18. Ray Redington Jr., Wasilla

19. Mitch Seavey, Seward

20. Rick Casillo, Willow

21. Noah Pereira, Brockport, N.Y.

22. Becca Moore, Willow

23. Anna Berington, Wasilla

24. Jason Campeau, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta

25. Jan Steves, Willow

26. Robert Bundtzen, Anchorage

27. Sigrid Ekran, Alvdal, Norway

28. Travis Beals, Seward

29. Ellen Halverson, Wasilla

30. Michelle Phillips, Tagish, Yukon

31. Joar Leifseth Ulsom, Mo i Rana, Norway

32. Brent Sass, Eureka

33. Wade Marrs, Willow

34. Kim Franklin, Hertz, U.K.

35. Dag Torulf Olsen, Hammerfest, Norway

36. Mats Pettersson, Kiruna, Sweden

37. Robert Sorlie, Hurdal, Norway

38. Richie Diehl, Aniak

39. Noah Burmeister, Nenana/Nome

40. Mike Williams Jr., Akiak

41. Linwood Fiedler, Willow

42. Kristin Bacon, Big Lake

43. Larry Daugherty, Eagle River

44. Ryne Olson, Two Rivers

45. DeeDee Jonrowe, Willow

46. Justin Savidis, Willow

47. Kristin Knight Pace, Healy

48. Martin Buser, Big Lake

49. Mary Helwig, Willow

50. Ed Stielstra, McMillan, Mich.

51. Jim Lanier, Chugiak

52. Tore Albrigtsen, Tromso, Norway

53. Patrick Beall, Norman, Okla.

54. Alan Eishens, Wasilla

55. Paul Gebhardt, Kasilof

56. Robe Cooke, Whitehorse, Yukon

57. Robert Redington, Wasilla

58. Trent Herbst, Ketchum, Idaho

59. Cody Strathe, Fairbanks

60. Ryan Redington, Wasilla

61. Jeff King, Denali Park

62. Scott Smith, Willow

63. Matt Failor, Willow

64. Tim Pappas, Big Lake

65. Miriam Osredkar, Willow

66. John Baker, Kotzebue

67. Jason Mackey, Salcha

68. Lars Monsen, Skiptvet, Norway

69. Elliot Anderson, Big Lake

70. Hugh Neff, Tok

71. Sarah Stokey, Seward

72. Lance Mackey, Fairbanks

73. Cindy Gallea, Wykoff, Minn.

74. Zoya DeNure, Delta Junction

75. Paige Drobny, Fairbanks

76. Karin Hendrickson, Wasilla

77. Ralph Johannessen, Dagali, Norway

78. Tom Jamgochian, Nome

79. Geir Idar Hjelvik, Norjorbet, Norway

80. Billy Snodgrass, DuBois, Wyoming

81. Ken Anderson, Fairbanks

82. Melissa Owens Stewart, Nome

83. Kristy Berington, Wasilla

84. Hans Gatt, Whitehorse, Yukon

85. Katherine Keith, Kotzebue

86. Martin Koenig, Seeley Lake, Montana