The first musher to scratch in the 2018 Iditarod is Zoya DeNure of Delta Junction.
According to a statement from the Iditarod, DeNure decided to scratch for personal health reasons. She arrived at the Skwentna checkpoint just after 3 a.m. this morning with 15 dogs on the line. Despite covering roughly 80 miles of Iditarod trail along the 1,000-mile southern route, DeNure made the decision to scratch at 7:49 a.m. in Skwentna.
DeNure has finished two Iditarod sled dog races out of the eight she has started.