Nome Kennel Club hosts annual meeting, announces plans for a new race in March 2026

The Nome Kennel Club met for their annual meeting last Thursday. The club is the world’s oldest kennel club, established in 1907. The club discussed successes from last year, held elections for board positions, and announced their race schedule for next year.

Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance
Chief among the discussion at the meeting was talk of the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, IHTA for short. Kirsten Bey, a longtime Nome Kennel Club member, also held a seat on the IHTA board. Since she moved away from Nome, the seat is going to be held by NKC board member Aaron Burmeister.
The IHTA is a nonprofit organization that works to promote awareness and stewardship of the Iditarod Trail, from Seward to Nome. The alliance has helped fund various projects to improve marking and safety along the trail.
The alliance helped fund NKC’s renovation of the Topkok Shelter cabin and helped fund a project to replace dilapidated and broken tripods from Nome to Topkok in 2022. Just a few weeks after the project was completed, typhoon Merbok swept through the region and obliterated most tripods, leaving only nine standing. This year, IHTA along with NSEDC, helped finance NKC’s project to replace the lost tripods. Bey said that the IHTA is a source of funds to improve and maintain the trail.
“This is my pitch that the kennel club really continue to maintain that there always be somebody who's on the board of the kennel club, be on the board of the IHTA so that we can work together,” she said.
The club discussed recent work to re-level the Topkok Shelter Cabin. When the remnants of ex-Typhoon Halong hit the area in early October, water from the nearby creek washed into the foundation of the shelter cabin and destabilized it. Last week, NKC board member Aaron Burmeister went to Topkok last Thursday with volunteers to level the cabin and stabilize it. “It’s a very dangerous stretch of the trail and its very important for people to be able to take shelter,” he said in an interview with the Nugget.
IHTA helped there, too. Burmeister said that he attended a meeting of the IHTA this fall and told them about the needed repairs to the shelter cabin. IHTA unanimously agreed to provide some funding for repair efforts.

New Race
The kennel club also set their race schedule for the season. The exciting new item on the schedule is a 200-mile race from Nome to Golovin, starting on March 26, 2026. The last Nome-Council Race, also a 200-miler and Iditarod qualifier, had been held in 2017. NKC President Jessica “Burr” Lemaire said that they hope to attract people from outside of the region. “It’s been a long time since the Nome Kennel Club has done a longer race. We’re really excited,” she said.
Board member Diana Haecker noted that the idea for the race came out of Nome-Council race that the kennel club used to hold for decades. Haecker said that by racing to Golovin, the club will be able to include the community. Burmeister added that when the Iditarod made White Mountain a mandatory eight-hour layover, mushers began bypassing Golovin. “By getting them involved in having that as the turnaround on the halfway point, they're excited about it, and it brings dog teams back into the community there,” he said.
The club also plans to host five other races during the season. On January 3, they plan to host a six-dog, seven mile fun run with no prize money. “The prize will be something like straw, dog food, but that's a fun race,” Lemaire said.
January 17 will be their first race with money on the line – an eight dog 20-mile race with a $560 purse. 
Next, the Dexter Creek Classic is scheduled for February 7 and 8. It is a 12-dog race, with 25 miles each day and a $1,800 purse. On February 21 and 22, the club plans to host the Nome River Classic, a 12-dog, two-day, 40-mile race with a $3,000 purse. The final race before the Nome-Golovin race is the March 7 Salmon Lake Derby. It is a 12-dog, 70-mile race with a purse of $2,640.
The club is looking for volunteers and people interested to join. Haecker noted that volunteers don’t need to be expert dog mushers to help out. “Just, you know, being there, maybe helping out, at the race start, or being around and seeing what needs to be done,” she said.

Other business
In 2025, the club worked with community organizations to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Serum Run. In January and February of 1925, Nome was struck with a diphtheria outbreak. Officials organized a relay of mushers to deliver the antitoxin from Nenana to Nome. The club spearheaded a community wide effort, filled with a week of historical talks and events off with a reenactment of the delivery of the serum. The Alaska Historical Society awarded the Nome Kennel Club and the city of Nenana with a “Contributions to Alaska History Award” in October for these efforts.
The club also expanded their educational work this year. They hosted several educational speaker series talks and worked with children at the 4H Club. Lemaire said that right now, the 4-H group does a lot of classroom activities where they teach kids about the history of mushing, leadership skills and a trail report where they discuss conditions outside. “We talk about, what does the trail look like, you know, what is good about the trail, what's dangerous about it? And doesn't just have to be dog mushing,” she said. “So we talk about ice, you know, what are the ice conditions like? Should you be out on the ice right now? How do you know if you should be out on ice?”
NKC also conducted an educational speaker series, hosting Dr. Kim Henneman, a Utah-based veterinarian who specializes in sports and integrative medicine for performance dogs and horses, to give a talk on preventing and treating injuries. Aaron Burmeister gave talks in October and November on dog training strategies, nutrition, injury prevention, and camping with a dog team.

Elections
At the meeting, elections for expiring and open board seats were held. Jessica Lemaire and Sarah Richards were both re-elected to two-year seats expiring December 31, 2027. Drew McCann was not present but was elected to fill the remaining two years on Wendy Nitta’s seat, expiring December 31, 2027.
During board comments, board members emphasized the long history of the kennel club. Haecker noted that the club needs to make sure that they have races and excite the community. “We have to see ourselves as a link in a long chain that perpetuates dog mushing, and we’re just a tiny link to it. I don’t want to be the part that breaks that link,” she said.
Burmeister agreed. He said that when the kennel club was started in 1907, the goal was to provide entertainment for the community and advance the breed of sled dogs. “It’s grown night and day in the last 120 years,” he said. “So to be able to carry that and move it forward is something that’s our goal, and to keep improving the dog care, improving the sport, and give spectators something to come out and be a part of.”
Vice President Sarah Richards said that she’s excited for the direction of the club. “I'm really excited about the momentum and energy that we've got going on the board. I moved here about six years ago, and I feel like things are really coming together,” she said.
Lemaire thanked all the members of the board for service. “We all are very lucky that we get to be with these great dogs every day,” she said. “So I thank you all for participating, I think you guys for being on the board and for all the hard work you do.”
Those interested in volunteering with the club can reach them by email at nomekennelclub@gmail.com or visit www.nomekennelclub.com