Beargrease official explains Blair Braverman exit from race

This morning on WTIP’s Daybreak program it was reported that musher Blair Braverman was asked to withdraw from the Beargrease marathon. It is not unusual or uncommon that a musher be asked to quit the lengthy race if they fall far behind the other competitors.

WTIP spoke with Beargrease Vice President Jason Rice about this topic, and he said if a musher falls more than 12 hours behind the leaders it is up to race officials to determine if that musher should quit the race. This is what happened in Braverman’s case. Rice said race officials can't justify keeping checkpoints open for just one musher who is so far behind in the race. He added that Braverman would not have finished the race until sometime Thursday, Feb. 1 and volunteers would have had to stay another night keeping the checkpoints and finish line open and safe. Safety is the priority during the race, according to Rice, and it would have been very challenging to keep the checkpoints safe and open for another day and night for just one musher.

However, Braverman said she was hoping to use the Beargrease as a qualifier race for the Iditarod. She was also hoping to earn Rookie of the Year honors, as this was her first full marathon. She cannot qualify for either of those after being removed from or quitting the race, which is called scratching.

Braverman is a contributing editor for Outside magazine and has a large presence on social media. Many of her online followers and supporters were expressing confusion and, in some cases, anger over the fact Braverman was not allowed to finish the 2018 John Beargrease.

Below is an interview with WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs and Beargrease Vice President Jason Rice discussing the Braverman situation.