Finnmarksløpet bigger than ever!

Finnmarksløpet 2006 is bigger than ever. On the due date to register on December 1st, 97 mushers were registered. This is a new record for the third consecutive year. 60 mushers are registered to race in the 500 km class, and 37 go for twice that distance.

Even though all teams in Iditarod race the same class and run the long race, and the participants in Finnmarksløpet can choose between 2 classes, it is nice to see that Finnmarksløpet’s popularity is growing among the mushers of Europe so that mushers from Northern Norway can get competition from large parts of the world.

- Mushers from 11 different nations are starting this year. The last nation to register for the race is Poland, says Executive Manager in Finnmarksløpet AS Hanne Rosenberg. She and Alta Sled Dog Club promise to focus on the foreign mushers before, during and after the race.

- This requires that Finnmarksløpet becomes more accessible to the foreign mushers. For example must all the meetings be held in English or be translated. Signs and other info during the race must also be in English, she says.