Willow musher DeeDee Jonrowe has scratched from the 2018 Iditarod.
The fan favorite with her pink clothes, sled bag and dog booties was running her 36th Iditarod and had said this one would be her last.
Jonrowe pulled out at the Rainy Pass checkpoint a little after 11 a.m. today. According to a statement from the Iditarod, Jonrowe made the decision to scratch for, “personal health reasons and concern for taking care of her dog team, which is her number one priority.”
Jonrowe competed in the 2003 Iditarod not long after chemotherapy for breast cancer, and she and her husband Mike lost their home in the 2015 Sockeye Fire.
In the Iditarod, Jonrowe’s record includes 16 top 10 showings, including a string of them from 1988 to 1998 and two second-place finishes.
Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him atcgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Caseyhere.
