The sun is out in Fairbanks and the 8:00 a.m. temperature this morning at the Sonot Kkaazoot start on the Chena River was 0 deg F. It is 14 deg F at Birch Hill. The highs predicted for today, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are 28, 28, 31, and 28 deg F, respectively.

Three trail groomers are out on the Chena River today getting things ready for Saturday’s race, and we will hopefully post some photos later today.

Remember, early bib pick-up is Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Doyon, Ltd building near the Sonot Kkaazoot start. PLEASE pick up your bib (and any out-of-town skiers who may be staying with you) Thursday night. We will have pulled all bibs for the two high school ski teams so one person can pick up the entire team’s bibs on race day. Skiers arriving in Fairbanks on Saturday morning can arrange to pick up their bib from the day-of-race organizer at the start/finish area on the Chena River after 9 a.m. if you email contact@sonotkkaazoot.org and let us know.

As of this morning, we have 268 entries with 159 skiers signed up for the 20 km event and 109 skiers doing the longer 40 and 50 events. All race registration is online and “day-of-race” fees are effective after early bib pick-up on Thursday.

REMEMBER, if you are not a USA citizen and want to register for the 40 or 50 km events, you must do so by Thursday, 22 March 2018 at 7 p.m. The longer races enter Fort Wainwright and we must get prior approval for foreign nationals to participate.