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Norman Vaughan Serum Run (2006) 

WINTER STORM TEMPORAIRLY HALTS SERUM RUN
At 9:00am, February 25th, a brief call from the Serum Run team leader, Scott Chesney indicates they are in white out conditions with winds gusting to 40 mph, making traveling extremely hazardous. At this point the group is remaining at Trapper Cabin 35 miles from the village of Ruby to wait out the storm. Weather should calm down by 3 pm today and they can resume their travels toward Ruby. For more information visit their web site at www.serumrun.org

The annual running of the Norman Vaughan Serum Run from Nenana to Nome got underway Sunday Feb 19th in Nenana, Alaska. The serum arrived in Nenana via the Alaska Railroad a little after 10 am, the conductor placed the serum packet into the waiting hands of a Serum Run representative Carolyn Vaughan who turned it over to the Serum musher Kurt Jokela. Twelve mushers and fourteen snow machiners are participating this year. They run in honor of the founder of the serum run, Col Norman Vaughan who passed away at the age of 100 December of 2005 and Mellen Shea, a participant in the Serum Run for many years, who is battling breast cancer, Mellen's dogs will be on the trail with musher Kurt Jokela & Skijorer Mathieu Bonnier, a adventurer from France, who is tagging along with the Serum Run this year using one of Mellens dog named "Tico".

The Serum Run is a dog team journey with snow machine support across 768 miles of Alaska's frozen rivers, tundra and sea ice from Nenana to Nome following the historic Iditarod trail. The mission of this annual trip is twofold. First, it is to commemorate the twenty men and their dog teams who relayed crucial diphtheria serum to Nome, saving countless lives. Second, and more importantly, it is to widen the awareness throughout Alaska of the need for inoculations for every single child and to stress important health issues such as immunizations, medical exams & cancer screening, tobacco cessation, accident prevention, HIV awareness and drug and alcohol abstinence. Mushers and their snow machining partners along with over 150 sled dogs will retrace the route of the original Serum Run. Stopping at each village and school along the way, they will rekindle the spirit of the Serum Run by bringing a message to school children and their parents regarding the need for inoculations, awareness and making healthy lifestyle choices. This year they will also discuss the importance of wearing helmets with ATV & snowmachine.

Follow the 3 week journey from Nenana to Nome on their web site at www.serumrun.org

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