Iditarod Race Updates and Coverage--Ultimate Iditarod

You have been hearing a good deal now about run/rest schedules. A major part of race strategy is organizing the time that the team spends trotting or loping down the trail versus resting to renew their energy and digest their food. As you know by now, most of the top mushers plan for about equal time spend running and resting. They factor in the prescribed rests-the 24 hr break, which includes a certain amount of extra due to the start time differential, plus the two 8 hr rests. The winner of the race is usually the team which has taken no unneeded rest, in addition to having everything else fall into place: no illness, fast trail speeds, good weather, and plenty of tough-minded leaders.

For the 21, teams that have crossed the finish line so far, Nome is where they get the BIG REST. Since Ultimate Iditarod is committed to giving you the "complete inside look", I thought you might like to know what happens to the dogs when they arrive here.

The short version of the story is that they are treated like the canine heroes that they truly are. They are given cozy beds, fed all they can eat, given rubdowns as needed, petted when awake, and praised with all sorts of superlatives.

The long version is this. About a hundred yards straight down Front Street from the finish line, just inside the beach line is a big broad area bounded on both ends by shipping containers. Long chains run parallel from the containers on the west end to those on the east end. Off these long chains are shorter chains with snaps on the end to which the dogs are connected by the rings on their collars. Before a given team gets to Nome, the staff of volunteers which is in charge of the "dog lot" designates a certain section of this picket line for the team. The drop bags which have been packed for Nome have been placed in the empty containers near the picket lines, and the handlers for the team usually have prepared a delicious meal for the arriving superstars. A bale of sweet-smelling straw is nearby, ready to become beds for the dogs.

A team of volunteers keeps the whole area quiet and secure. Only the mushers or their designated handlers are allowed into the holding area, in addition to race officials. Veterinary care is administered as needed. The drug-testing team is here in Nome and it is here in the resting area that they collect the urine specimens that are analyzed for banned substances.

The dogs don't spend too much time in Nome, as a rule. Alaska Airlines is a major sponsor of the race, and the main airline to serve Nome. They bend over backwards to accommodate the teams, and one of the things they do is modify the Boeing 737's which fly in and out of Nome to hold both cargo and passengers on the same plane. The front half is for big cargo carriers called "igloos". A bulkhead is placed about midway back in the body of the plane, and behind this bulkhead the passengers sit. The Igloos can hold eighteen dogs, and and two sleds. Many times, two teams can be placed in one igloo, depending on how many dogs finish with each team. The airline brings the igloos to the dog lot on a flatbed truck a couple of hours befor the plane is scheduled to leave. The dogs go into individual kennels, just like the kennels people put in their cars to carry their pet dogs. The musher's gear goes into the sled, and everything is taken to the airport to be loaded by forklift onto the plane. As long as the musher can promise that their is someone at the destination to receive the dogs, it is not necessary for a person to go on the same plane. Often the mushers have the same people that pick up their "dropped" team members greet the returning athletes in Anchorage.

It has always impressed me that the dogs get the utmost in pampering once they reach Nome, and this year is no exception. Robin, who is in charge of the dog lot, along with her crew, are treating the dogs like heroes and heroines....once again. After snowmobiling the whole trail, it makes me want to be a dog.

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© 2002 Ultimate Iditarod, Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs, Seavey's Iditarod Racing Team
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