John Bramante is ready to make a second go.
The Soldotna physician will set out from Anchorage Saturday for his second attempt at the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail.
Bramante, a self-proclaimed recreational musher, completed his first Iditarod in 2000, then took a year off to rest. This year, he's back, hoping to give his team a chance to correct first-timer mistakes.
He'll be running with the same core team he raced in 2000, with a few adjustments to the plan.
"On a first-time race, you learn a lot," Bramante explained. "Hopefully, this will be a cleaner, healthier, stronger one."
Bramante's last race was plagued with ill dogs and broken sleds.
"People don't always think about it, but with so many dogs together, a lot of typical back-of-packers get sick," Bramante said.
He has researched the problem and imposed a regimen that he said will hopefully keep his dog team healthy throughout the race.
He has also changed sleds.
"I had an inappropriately lightweight sled. I spent most of my sleeping time fixing it," he said. "This year, I'm taking a tank."
The goal, he said, is simply to run a strong race.
"It has nothing to do with competition," he said. "I want to have a good clean race where I can look at my dogs at the end and say 'you guys are looking great.'"
He also said he is looking forward to a second chance to enjoy the scenery, though he said he is disappointed that there won't be a full moon.
The 38-year-old New Jersey native began mushing about seven years ago. A friend moved in with Bramante's family with a few dogs. They started having puppies, and one thing led to another.
"It was kind of the typical pattern," he said. "We had six dogs and thought, 'Oh, two more would be nice.' Then my wife and I would say, 'Oh, if we had 16 we could both run a full team.'
"Suddenly you have 25 dogs and you're carrying four buckets up to the lot wondering how that happened."
Bramante bred about half his team and bought the other half from other peninsula mushers.
This will probably be the last Iditarod for most of his dogs, who are between 4 and 8 years old.
"I have a team that's getting a little bit older," he said. "I wanted one more shot at it before they retired.
"It'll be a bald, middle-aged man running a bald, middle-aged team."
