One for the History Books

Distance sled dog racing as we know it today began with the All Alaska Sweepstakes started in 1908 by the Nome Kennel Club. The race ran for a few years and then stopped, but the concept of distance sled dog racing endured. Many of the early mushers are now legends. Right now that race is being re-run on Alaska's Seward Peninsula. And just to make things interesting, the Nome Kennel Club has rasised a $100,000 winner take all purse.

The race is also using most of the original rules. The rules, race standings, and everything else (check out Josh's Blog for current news) can be found at http://www.allalaskasweepstakes.org/ . One of the most interesting of the original rules is that the dog musher must cross the finish line with every dogs they started with. Dogs can be either in the sled or attached to the line, but they must all be present. Modern races allow mushers to drop dogs. Having to maintain a complete team is an unique aspect of this particular race. Also interesting; there are no mandatory rest stops. It is totally up to the musher to decide when and where to rest their dogs. Mushers started the race at 2 minute intervals which means the first mushers have roughly a 30 minute head start on the last mushers. In most races this is accounted for during mandatory rest stops. Without any mandatory stops, we have to watch the musher's time, not necessarily their place, to determine who is winning.

The front runners have quickly covered the 200 miles to Candle and are on their way back to Nome. It appears that Lance Mackey, Jeff King, and Mitch Seavey are leading the pack. Except that in a race like this every team is a few injuries away from being out of contention.

To be honest it has been a little difficult to follow the race on the website. Josh's Blog has the only real "news" I can find regarding the race. It'll be interesting to learn what the mushers think of the format. Distance sled dog racing is getting bigger and bigger every year. The Iditarod is becoming a major international spectacle with other races earning devoted global followings. What will the musher's say about a race with rules orginally made for teams of working sled dogs? How will those old rules resonate with today's professional dog drivers?

We should start getting some answers this weekend. Until then, "Hike it out!"