Some interesting news I just ran across. Wednesday in Nome Alaska, Lance Mackey crossed the finish line. In the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, hours in front of the competition. He and only two other mushers, to put together three consecutive wins.
He even had time to stop his team about a half-mile outside Nome, where he went down the line, primping and thanking each of his 15 dogs before resuming the final stretch.
From the article:
"About a block from the finish line, Mackey raised both arms in victory and rode that way into the chute at 11:38 a.m., hours ahead of his nearest competitors in the race.
Immediately after winning, he gave treats to his dogs, calling them the "real heroes."
"This never gets old," he said at the finish line as he hugged two of them."
For more of the story. -> Mackey wins
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Comments: 18
Teresa~ How very cool! I bet they are gorgeous.
Teams average 16 dogs, which means over 1,000 dogs leave Anchorage for Nome.
There are 26 checkpoints on the northern route, the first in Anchorage and the last in Nome. On the southern route, there are 27 checkpoints.
The largest number of mushers to finish a single race was 77 in 2004.
The first woman to win the Iditarod was Libby Riddles in 1985.
Four time winner, Susan Butcher, claimed Iditarod victories in 1986, 1987, 1988 and again in 1990. Susan retired from long distance racing after the 1993 race in order to start a family. She passed away from Leukemia in 2006.
Did You Know?
Iditarod dogs are not driven with reins, but by spoken commands. The leader of the team must understand all that is said to him and guide the others accordingly. An intelligent leader is an absolute necessity. At times it appears that there is ESP between musher and lead dog. Don’t be surprised if you hear a musher have an in-depth conversation with her lead dog.
This years race they had 73 mushers signed up to run the race. Including 18 women. Veteran female competitiors including DeeDee Jonrowe who has been mushing for over 20 years; Judy Currier, a member of the Two Rivers Dog Mushers; Aliy Zirkle winner of the Yukon Quest in 2000; and Oregonian Rachel Scdoris who is legally blind.
The youngest woman to compete in the Iditarod is 19 year old Melissa Owens and the oldest is 58 year old Nancy Yoshida. A Junior Iditarod was run last week for mushers 14 -17 years of age and this year the field boasted more girls than boys..
and they almost were thinking about calling it short ? ? ?
I am glad they didn't have to do that, it kind of ruins the spirit of the competition...
thanks Melanie......
Randee~ You are so right it sure showed the true spirit fo the competition.
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