- Aliy Zirkle forced out after two days following injuries on trail
- Only 47 mushers have entered this year’s race amid pandemic
- Zirkle, 50, finished as runner-up in 2012, 2013 and 2014 races
The top woman competing in Alaska’s Iditarod sled dog race, Aliy Zirkle, has been forced out of the contest after suffering a concussion and other injuries on the trail two days into the event, organizers said on Tuesday.
No details of the mishap were immediately available. But Zirkle, a fan favorite, was evacuated from the trail at Rohn, a checkpoint 183 miles into the race, and sent to an Anchorage hospital for medical treatment, organizers said.
Musher Aliy Zirkle of Two Rivers, AK, scratched at the Rohn checkpoint last night at 8:05 p.m. Zirkle was injured while coming in to the Rohn checkpoint. Her race team is uninjured and being well cared for by volunteers at the Rohn checkpoint. Read more athttps://t.co/Ht5SowOzMa pic.twitter.com/6WkeNPFqfR
Related: Alaska’s Iditarod sled dog race shoves off with coronavirus-altered course
