The 2013 International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race begins this evening (6:00pm MST) at Jackson, Wyoming. Over the next week, 23 teams will race over a nearly 350-miles course that includes eight checkpoints and runs through portions of four states, ending in Evanston, Wyoming next weekend.

There are two Montanans in this year's race, including the youngest sompetitor, 17-year-old rookie Jenny Gregor of Bozeman. the teenager has run shorter races, but this is her first Pedigree race. The other Montana musher is 40-year-old Charlotte Mooney of West Yellowstone. Mooney has run the Pedigree race once before, in 2011.  There are six Alaskans in the field, seven Canadians and one Swede.

Three-time defending champion Blayne "Buddy" Streeper of Ft. Nelson, British Columbia is back, looking for his fourth straight (and 5th overall) crown. 2012 runner-up Aaron Peck of Grand Prairie, Alberta, is also in the field. Five of the 23 mushers are Pedigree Stage Stop Race Rookies, and three are veterans of the Iditarod.

From the start at Jackson, Wyoming, the teams will head north to West Yellowstone, Montana, then turn south following a trail that will take them briefly into Idaho and Utah and back into Wyoming. The winning team is expected to arrive in Evanston, Wyoming sometime Saturday, February 2nd.

Click HERE for full race coverage.

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