The Iditarod

It's March in Kentucky and every television is tuned to a basketball game 24/7. There are high school championships, several divisions of college championships (both boys and girls) and then, of course, the big party...the NCAA championships. And then there is me. Now, don't get me wrong, I will certainly be watching a lot of round ball, but my real interest this month will involve snow and a lot of barking.

Several years ago, I had a March with time on my hands. This led to some wandering on the Internet. We had just returned from a trip to Alaska the fall before and I stumbled upon the site for the Iditarod Race. In a short time I became a devoted follower of this famous dog race that covers 1100 miles from Anchorage to Nome. Now starting the first of March I am glued to the Internet following the racers (mushers) as they brave the elements and follow the trail across Alaska.

The Iditarod Race was started in 1974 to commemorate a time when dog sleds provided transportation for food, medicine, mail and goods across a state that had few roads and these were mostly buried in snow from October until May. With the advent of the airplane in the late 1920's dog sleds were used less and less for the long haul deliveries. While they were still used for personal transportation and deliveries to isolated cabins, the airplane became the primary mode of transportation to the remote stretches of Alaska. However, on one historic run when weather conditions had made air delivery impossible, dog sleds made the 1100 mile trip from Anchorage to Nome to rush a supply of vaccine. The Iditarod celebrates this historic run and the intrepid mushers who routinely braved the wilderness to deliver goods.

This year sixty-seven racers will face the rigors of an Alaskan winter across rivers, plains, mountains, tundra, forests, and coastline for a grueling 1100 miles in 11-12 days. They will do this alternately running behind or riding on the runners of a sled loaded with supplies and pulled by a team of 16 or less dogs. (Dogs that become injured or tired may be left at check-points for delivery home, so the number of dogs is flexible; although no dogs may be added after the start of the race.) This is a true test of the physical fitness of both musher and dogs.

The racers are both male and female, although more men run it than women. However, both men and women have won it. The ages ranges from 19 to ?. The oldest I have seen in this race is a 72 year old musher named Dan Seavey who also ran in the first Iditarod 40 years ago. He is running to commemorate the opening of the Iditarod Trail 100 years ago, as a delivery route and the 40th running of the Iditarod Race. He will deliver pamphlets and material along the way. While he is not a contender he is committed to finishing the race. Interestingly, his son and grandson are in the top four at this time.

As I am in my "golden years" it is interesting to me that this is not a race dominated by youth. The main contenders and top mushers tend to be from 40-55 years old. This is a race that is won not just by speed, but endurance and strategy. Traits that experience and age enhance. The front runner for most of the race and the definite pace setter is a 41 year old woman who has finished the race 10 times. With all that being said it has to be noted that the third place musher at this time is Dallas Seavey who is 25. The race is about half over so things have lots of time to change.

Since I am spending every spare minute checking race standings and weather conditions (it has snowed over two feet on some of the course in the past week) I will write more about some of the adventures of the Iditarod later. If you are interested in following it yourself, check out www.iditarod.com.