The Iditarod has disqualified a musher from the upcoming running of the Last Great Race.
A release from the Iditarod Trail Committee says the race’s board held an emergency meeting on Monday and decided to disqualify Eddie Burke Jr. of Anchorage. It says the disqualification is pursuant to rule 53, which says that “All Iditarod mushers will be held to a high standard of personal and professional conduct.”
The release does not explain what Burke did to violate the rule, but Alaska court records show the 34-year-old musher is facing felony and misdemeanor assault charges for a May 2022 domestic violence incident in Anchorage.
Burke was the top rookie in last year’s Iditarod as well as the Yukon Quest Alaska 300 earlier this month.
Burke’s disqualification follows a message sent to Iditarod mushers saying that the race’s board had been informed about “a number of accusations being made within our community concerning violence and abuse against women.”
It does not name any mushers but goes on to say that the ITC board and personal conduct committee are “monitoring the situation closely.”