Iditarod: The Last Great Race On Earth®

[ABM]

....or so they say.

FWIW..

http://iditarod.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iditarod_Trail_Sled_Dog_Race

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of 16 dogs, of which at least 6 must be on the towline at the finish line, cover the distance in 9–15 days or more.[1] The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams but evolved into today's highly competitive race. The current fastest winning time record was set in 2011 by John Baker with a time of 8 days, 19 hours, 46 minutes, and 39 seconds.[2] As of 2012, Dallas Seavey is the youngest musher to win the race. Seavey is the third generation in his family to race. In the race were Mitch Seavey, Dallas' father and 2004 race winner, and Dan Seavey, Dallas' grandfather and one of the organizers of the first races.

Teams frequently race through blizzards causing whiteout conditions, sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds which can cause the wind chill to reach −100 °F (−73 °C). A ceremonial start occurs in the city of Anchorage and is followed by the official restart in Willow, a city in the south central region of the state...............

 

[tlongII]

Boring.

 

[Further]

Totally exciting. Read Winterdance by Gary Paulsen.

It's a fun quick read of a first hand account of someone's first race.

 

[jlprk]

a team of 16 dogs, of which at least 6 must be on the towline at the finish line,

Do the other 10 die? Do organizations like the SPCA observe the dogs' health?

 

[Further]

Some may die, but mostly they would be left behind at the rest stops during heir ride, and then picked up at the end. These dogs are taken care of very differently than our pets, but they are well cared for. They wear little dog booties so the ice doesn't cut the pads of their feet. The dogs live to run and often get in fights, so when one does die, it's usually from fighting.

 

[jlprk]

I know about Buck's dogfights, because Obama's middle school had us read "Call of the Wild" in the 7th grade. They didn't tell us that Jack London was a Marxist.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Dat Buck heem one good dog.

 

[Shaboid]

I started a new job last summer and in this office they do an Iditarod pool every spring instead of March Madness (I will still be filling out a bracket). We each pick one musher, I have Brent Sass, and there are three ways to win:

1. Pick the Winner
2. Pick the Rookie of the Year
3. Pick the last place finisher.

Kind of a fun alternative to the NCAA tournament.