I found out today that Anchorage is the starting location of the famous but grueling sled dog race called the Iditerod. The race began back in 1973 and a man or woman with a sled and a team of 16 sled dogs race from 4th Street in Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.
Here is an image of 4th Street. Of course, the race is in winter and this picture was taken today.
Al and I were very entertained at Wildride Sled Dog Show about sled dogs and racing. Sled dogs are huskies and I had an opportunity to play with the pup of an Iditerod champion.
The Iditerod places men and women on equal footing. In fact women have won the Iditerod many times. The race requires that only the driver of the sled can feed and take care of the dogs during the entire race, which lasts about 10 days. Each dog has to be fed, cared for, and dressed in booties and a jacket and bedded down by the driver with no assistance from anyone. The driver often gets only about an hour of sleep a night.
Here are some pics from the show.
The Seavey family runs the dog show. The father of the family won the Iditerod in 2004. His son, also an Iditerod racer, was the MC. He introduced the trainer of the lead dog from the movie "Eight Below”, who explained the difference between this dog and normal huskie dogs.
I end this journal entry with an image looking down the Cook Inlet from downtown Anchorage taken at dinner time.
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