Veteran Iditarod Trail competitor Aliy Zirkle of Two Rivers has won her sixth Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award, as the musher who demonstrated outstanding care of their race team while remaining competitive.
The Iditarod Trail Committee announced on March 28 that Zirkle got the most votes from trail veterinarians and independent scoring of the teams by three veterinarians in Nome. The announcement came 10 days after Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner won the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled, completing the race in nine days, 10 hours, 37 minutes and 47 seconds.
Before 2020, Zirkle was tied with veteran musher Martin Buser, of Big Lake, with five Leonard Seppala Humanitarian awards apiece.
Each volunteer trail veterinarian is asked to submit their first, second and third choices for the winner of the coveted award, with specific point values assigned for each choice based on the musher’s care of his or her team at checkpoints. For scoring, each racing sled dog in teams placing in the top 20 is then individually evaluated in Nome by the three independent veterinarians, who assess the dogs for hydration, attitude, body weight and gait. The winner is determined by the combination of voting points from trail veterinarians and team scores dome by the three veterinarians in Nome.
Iditarod officials said the scores were extremely close for the award this year. Jessie Royer, of Fairbanks placed second in the voting and Waerner placed third.
The humanitarian and other Iditarod awards are to be presented at the finisher’s banquet at a date still to be announced. The banquet was to have been held at Nome after conclusion of the race, but was postponed due to concerns about the novel coronavirus pandemic.
