Sled Dog Races to Watch in February

Wow…February is chuck full with important Sled Dog Races in prelude to the Iditarod!

There is Jeff King”s “Denali Double” Feb 11th…which is a 2 Musher/ 1 –20 dog team race, covering 69 miles! I never heard of such a race! There are some important players to watch in the Denali Double…like Jessie Royer, Cim Smyth, Paul Gebhardt, Mitch Seavey and Linwood Fiedler to name a few. All these folks are also signed up to run the Iditarod starting March 6th. BUT, by far, the BIGGEST Team to watch in the Denali Double would be Sebastian Schnuelle (Winner of the 2009 Yukon Quest and 2nd place in the 2009 Iditarod). Since this race involves 2 mushers per Team, its more of a “dog conditioning” race in prep for the Iditarod, but none the less, it should be interesting…cuz lets face it…the dogs are 95% of the race performance, so it will show us something of what we may see in the Iditarod.

The other big race to watch is the 1,000 mile Yukon Quest. I do think its interesting Schnuelle is not running the Yukon Quest this year as the defending Champion. The Quest ends just a few short weeks before the Iditarod. I’m thinking Schnuelle may be putting all his dogs in one sled basket, and the name on that basket is Iditarod! It is also interesting to note, Lance Mackey IS running the Quest this year after taking last year off to concentrate on the Iditarod. He went on to win the Iditarod for the 3rd time in a row…a feat only 2 other mushers have ever done before (Susan Butcher and Doug Swingley). After winning both the Quest and the Iditarod 2 years in a row (2007 and 2008...dubbed the Idita-Quest years by Mackey fans) Mackey switched things up in 2009 and put all his dogs in the Iditarod sled basket and won it handedly. This year, he is reverting to his prior year tactics and returned to run the 1,000 mile Quest race to condition his dogs, and himself, for the Iditarod. He is the one and only MASTER of winning the Quest and Iditarod back to back!

The Yukon Quest starts next week…other noted racers to watch in the Quest are Ken Anderson, Hans Gatt, Hugh Neff, Zack Steer and Ramey Smyth. These mushers are also signed up to run the Iditarod. This race begins February 6, and the awards banquet is on February 20th

Iditarod 2010

OK Folks...its getting to be that time of year again....time to watch the Last Great Race on Earth!!! This years Iditarod is set to start March 6th (ceremonial start), and of course the "real" race actually begins the next day, Sunday March 7th. I will give daily updates on the race, or what I have dubbed "Tails from the Trails", to keep folks up to date with the days (and nights) happenings. But for now, as a build up to the race, I will do a little research to help folks pick their own "top ten" mushing teams. As most of you know.....I'm a HUGE fan of the Iditarod....I live, sleep and breath all things Iditarod every moment of the race. This year, I am challenging myself to take it one step further by blogging my way through the race. As the hype and drama of the race approaches, we all have to wonder...will Mackey be able to win 4 times in a row....or is it Jeff Kings time to finally get a 5th win under his belt (much to the annoyance of Rick Swensen....it may be time for him to SHARE the 5 time Iditarod Champion pedestal after all!), or will Sebastian Schnuelle sneak in quietly and take the prize from all the true and tried Iditarod Champions? Its anybodies guess....and everyone's wonder!!! This is truly the Last Great Race on Earth!!!