Fairbanks-area musher Emily Robinson, 17, was practically born into the lifestyle. She first climbed into a sled at four years old.
Now she regularly beats adult competitors, including former Iditarod champions, in shorter races like the Kuskokwim 300 and the Yukon Quest 80. But even she isn't immune to race day butterflies. Robinson says she felt on edge before this year's Jr. Iditarod at the end of February.
"I haven't slept much at all," she said, a couple days before racing out of Tolsona. "Nobody's been putting that pressure on me, but I've just been putting that pressure on myself."
The stakes were high. It was the last race Robinson could compete in before she aged out of the field. And she had a three-year winning streak to protect. In the Jr. Iditarod's 48-year history, nobody had ever won four races in a row.
That is, not until Robinson's team crossed the finish line first, with nine dogs in harness. When her father scooped her up in a hug, she almost disappeared into his parka. Robinson says it was a bittersweet moment after all the buildup.
"Because I was finishing my junior racing career," she said. "And, right now, I'm trying to find new motivations, because Jr. Iditarod was the thing I was obsessing about for four years."
Robinson's record competing against other kids is impressive, but she's regularly beaten people who have been mushing as long as she's been alive, too. The teenager has placed in races all over the state, and she says she often finds that she's the youngest person on the field — and sometimes, the only woman.
"It's a super unique experience," Robinson said. "And that's what's so great about dog mushing. You're able to compete at the same level with a man, and just so many adults that know what they're doing, and they've seen thousands of miles of trail."
Graduating to the real Iditarod
The victory at Tolsona didn't spell the end of her 2025 season — Robinson and her family set their sights on the real Iditarod, as non-competitors. That means they were just doing it for fun and practice.
This year marked the 100-year anniversary of the serum run to Nome, and a last-minute switch due to snow conditions brought the trail closely in line with the historic route. That brought the trail close to the Robinson family's property halfway between Nenana and Fairbanks, which let Robinson take off from home with her brother, Stanley, and her dad, Walter.
Robinson admits that her family has a unique lifestyle. But some things never change.
"Me and my brother were actually riding to the Iditarod finish line on the sled together," Robinson said. "And Stanley's like, 'Get on the brake! They're going too fast.' And I'm like, 'No, it's fine, don't worry about it.' So, we're literally arguing as we're coming down Front Street."
Robinson made time to visit grade schools along the trail. In Galena, a fidgety crowd of kids greeted her like a celebrity in the school gym. She told them good character is as fundamental to success in life as it is in sports — and that success also rests on relationships with elders.
Robinson says she sees herself as part of a constellation of women involved in the sport, which includes her mom — or, "Momager" — Alissa Robinson, as well as Mary Shields, who was the first woman to race the Iditarod and is one of Robinson's mentors.
A new horizon
With the spring thaw, and the end of her junior racing career, Robinson finally has time to think about her next move. She says she'll pass the Jr. Iditarod torch to her 13-year-old brother, Stanley, who is getting ready to compete next year.
"It's definitely very weird having your little brother taking over your dog team," she said.
The Jr. Iditarod awards scholarship money to its victors. And Robinson plans to use the spoils of her four-year winning streak to go to college when she graduates high school next year. She's thinking about pursuing a degree in something related to communications, having grown to love public speaking through her engagements on the trail.
She said that could happen close to home, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks — or maybe in Norway.
"There's also dog mushers over there," she said. "So, it'd be really cool to see what the dog mushing culture is like, and the technology they have, and that sort of thing."
Until then, Robinson said she'll spend her newfound free time relaxing in the best way she knows how — by trapping beavers and building her own cabin on her family's property. And she said she has many races ahead of her. She wants to run her team back to the burled arch in Nome as a real competitor.
But for now, Robinson is reflecting on her youth career. When she charged toward the Jr. Iditarod finish line, with tears melting her frosted eyelashes, she says felt like she was leaving her childhood behind.
"It was like, it's over. It's done," Robinson said. "Like, that's it. My junior racing career is just — I can't go back, I can't do it again, I can't run the race again. The pressure that I had was just so enormous, and to have it be over with was just such a relief. But then, it's just gonna be in my memory forever, and on Facebook and in interviews. But I can't experience it again."