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March 2005 Article
Doggy
Drama on the Frozen Trail: If
you’re in the race, your word is “Mush”!
An
event-driven incentive travel opportunity researched and reported
by Michael Day with Media Incentives & Creative Travel
Planners. This
is just one component of a multi-dimensional incentive experience
that can be found in breathtaking Alaska!
Alaska’s Iditarod is billed as “The Last Great Race”.
Now in its 33rd year, the Iditarod more than
lives up to this grand claim. It easily qualifies as one of the most colorful, spectacular
and challenging contests on this planet.
As a first-time spectator standing at the starting line on
Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage, it’s easy to be impressed
by the joyful, high energy atmosphere of this astonishing event. It has much the feeling of a family reunion…a particularly
well adjusted, happy family at that!
Nevertheless, it’s a mixture of locals and out-of-towners
alike…all trying to take photos and cheer on their favorite
dog-sled team.
Add to that, the strong presence of local radio and
television people milling about with their equipment.
This special day represents a unusual branding opportunity
for race sponsors ranging from Wells Fargo Bank to Cabella’s,
the outdoor catalog company.
Check out the family behind the rope barrier holding the
hand-written poster that reads “Daytona Beach, Fla. Loves
Mushers!” Daytona
Beach?
Interestingly enough, this day in Anchorage is the ceremonial
start of the race, but not the actual beginning.
Normally, Anchorage doesn’t have enough snow (true again
this first week in March, 2005).
The “city fathers” truck just enough snow into the
downtown area to make it all work.
The actual race starts the following day in an outlying
community called Willow. This town is at a higher elevation and thus, has more snow.
The roots of the now world-famous Iditarod are steeped in a
heroic (and now historic) response to great human need. In 1925, the Alaskan town of Nome was on the verge of a
diphtheria epidemic and a special vaccine was desperately needed.
It was mid-winter and the only possible way to deliver the
life-saving serum was by dog-sled. And so it was! This
combined effort by man and dog(s) was credited for saving 10,000
lives. And this
original act of rescue is commemorated and, in fact, re-created
each year with only one man and 12-16 Alaskan Huskies per team,
beginning in Anchorage and ending in Nome, while crossing 1,131
miles of formidable Alaskan wilderness.
Each night the musher beds down with his dogs after tending
to their needs, sometimes in fierce storms with temperatures that
drop to 40-50 degrees below.
And during the day the dog team crosses wind-swept frozen
lakes, fords swollen creeks and rivers while the musher tries to
keep his dogs dry. And
now, for the safety and well-being of the dogs, there are vet
checks along the way. And,
with the help of the volunteer Iditarod Air Force, (all private
planes) a dog that comes up lame or isn’t performing at peak
will be dropped from the race and transported within hours to the
comfort of his kennel back home.
This year there was a record 79 dog team entries.
There were 63 men and 16 women.
Among the men was a local favorite, Martin Buser, who moved
from Switzerland to Alaska 26 years ago and is now a 4-time winner
and currently holds the fastest recorded time on the trail (8
days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 2 seconds).
Among the female contestants there were two standouts…and
each for a different reason.
There’s DeeDee Jonrowe, age 51 and a breast cancer
survivor, who in the span of 22 races has won a total of $335,804
in prize money. And
there’s Rachael Scdoris, who grew up with 90 Huskies in her
father’s kennel, started dog-sled racing at age 11.
She is legally blind and is a member of the U.S.
Association of Blind Athletes.
Rachel, at age 20, just entered her first Iditarod race.
She was followed by a second dog-sled team assigned to
watch over her in case of emergency.
To a person, the mushers are a modest lot.
The standard answer is “The dogs get all the credit.
I’m just along for the ride”
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