Hugh Neff heads out on trail at the official start of the 2022 Iditarod in Willow. Neff was later forced to scratch from the race. That’s despite havingFormerly of Tok and more recently based in Fairbanks and Anchorage, Neff has finished the Iditarod 13 times, placing as high as 5th in 2011. Butin both the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest, another 1,000-mile race, which he’s won twice.
Neff had to re-qualify and ran the 2021 Yukon Quest, which was shortened to 300 miles due to the coronavirus pandemic.— his first thousand-miler since the Quest ban — due to race officials’ concern over his dogs’ health midway through the race. Neff had been running dogs from another veteran musher, Jim Lanier.with the same dog team, saying at the time it was vindication.