Nolan wins Willow Jr. 100

WILLOW — When they first came up with the idea for the Willow Jr. 100, Christine Stitt and her husband sat down and “started thinking like children.” They wanted to design a race that was youth-friendly and would provide young mushers with a positive experience on the trails.

Eight years later, with the perfect venue provided by legendary Iditarod musher Vern Halter, the race continues to bring excitement to junior mushers and spectators alike.

This year, the race was not short on thrills with four of the junior mushers checking into the halfway point only seconds apart (Andrew Nolan and Kevin Harper actually clocked in with the exact same time). Ruthan Stitt, the race founder’s daughter, clocked the fastest time to the halfway point in the history of the race with a speedy 4 hours 4 minutes and 11 seconds.

After a little bit of rest in a heated tent Friday night, the mushers woke up bright and early at 6:30 a.m. to start the second leg of the race. It was anyone’s race with reports coming up the trail that Harper was in the lead, followed closely by Jimmy Lanier, Stitt, and Nolan. Somewhere in the last five miles of the race — endearingly called “No Man’s Land” — the lead shifted to Nolan, who would eventually take home first place.

Nolan, who has raced in the Willow Jr. 100 twice before, said he was trailing the three mushers until he was able to pass them after the crossing at Tuxedo Road.

Nolan called his first win “exciting” and said he is looking forward to the Jr. Iditarod Feb. 28.

He finished the race with a time of 8 hours, 41 minutes and 43 seconds.