Growing Excitement

There is less than a month left before Finnmarksløpet 2012 starts. At the moment we can celebrate a record high number of mushers, but will the high numbers stand?

The record in number of starting mushers was in 2010 when 107 teams started out from Alta. 42 of them in open class.
In 2011 we had almost the same number, 106 starting, but only 33 in open class. As I’m writing this we have 139 registered teams. The numbers of teams in FL-1000 is astonishing 62. The last few days we have had some cancelations, but also some new ones have signed up. One musher has changed from FL-1000 to FL-500, while another one has done the opposite. Femundsløpet became a hard race for both dogs and mushers this year, therefore it is now exciting to see how many would have to cancel or change class.
Entry Fee Soon Due
February 15th is the entry fee is due; some mushers don’t sign off, but just don’t pay the fee. The list will be updated about the 17th or 18th February. Hopefully a high number of mushers will still be on the list. Another positive observation is that there are mushers starting from 18 nations. We don’t know for certain what the highest number of nations previously, but we are quite sure this will be anther all-time high.
The State of the Race
At the Finnmarksløp-office the activity level is high now. The new checkpoint in Kirkenes is now in place and lots of logistic are now solved. Prizes and this year outfit are being prepared; the same goes for the arenas. Our new web-page is just about to be ready, likewise the new logo. Missing is a new trail map for FL-1000. Some rerouting of the trial means we will have to come with some more information. Also the GPS-files have to be updated. We hope to have all this in place shortly.
Now we study the weather forecast to see if there will be some more snow in Alta, but normally we get the snow we need.