Mushing: Weekend races in Glennallen, Cantwell

Lance Mackey will headline a Copper Basin 300 field that also includes Valley mushers Jeff Deeter of Wasilla and Willow’s Linwood Fiedler and Sven Haltmann.

The race is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the junction of the Glenn and Richardson highways. Race organizers had to move the start due to poor race conditions through Glennallen. A total of 26 mushers have signed up for the race, which runs past Gakona and Chistochina through Paxson, on to Lake Louise and then back to Glennallen through Tolsona Lake.

This year’s 19th annual race is an Iditarod and Yukon Quest qualifier and features a purse of $10,000.

Cantwell Classic underway

The 2008 Cantwell Classic began Friday morning at 10 a.m. with teams heading up the 200 mile trail out to the Maclaren River Lodge, where a restart will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. for the run back to Cantwell.

Big Lake’s Martin and Rohn Buser were among the 32 mushers hitting the trail Friday. Martin Buser is a four-time Iditarod champion while the younger Buser, just 18, is preparing for his first Iditarod run in March.

Also in the field are Talkeetna’s Anja Fein, Melanie Gould and Jeff Davis.

Check www.frontiersman.com for further race updates.