Gearing Up for Iditarod!!

We are getting a nice snow storm right now.....hopefully later we can get in a skijor with the pups! I have been reading up on the race....lots of good info out there on the Internet. Sebastian Schnuelle is running a nice blog for the Iditarod web site....Sab always has a good take on the race! He will be covering the race via snow machine this year. It appears Dallas, Mitch, Aliy and Ramey Smyth are the favorites right now....but really it is SO hard to say what's going to happen.....King is looking good with winning the Kusko300 handily. Mackey scratched in the Yukon Quest due to his dogs picking up a stomach virus...which is a common concern during any race. He can come back from that...he is famous for his come backs after all! Im watching a YouTube video on the 1979 Iditarod as I do research for this years race it's fun to see how the races of old were run. My goodness the race has changed a lot since the early days! It's nice to see Susan Butcher in these old films...the 1979 Iditarod was her 2nd race, finishing in 9th place....she is still in a learning mode in 1979 and doesn't take command of the race until the mid 80's. Swenson wins the 1979 race in 14 days, but I see this past week he withdrew from the 2013 Iditarod. That man has been racing for many a year. As many of you know Im NOT a big Swenson fan!! Not much more to report....it appears snow has fallen where it should on the trail, a concern of not enough snow back in January seems to have been resolved. Rohn Buser withdrew from this years race too....you got to wonder if his Dad Martin Buser will do better since his son isn't in the race. Martin hasn't been in the top ten since 2008. Since Rohn isn't racing there is a chance Martin will have a stronger team! If you want to do some historical research on the race check out the YouTube videos....they are pretty good!! And don't forget to play Hobo Jim's Iditarod Video featuring his famous Iditarod song!! If your a true Iditarod Fan you will learn the words! "I did, I did, I did the Iditarod Trail"!

Just a week and a half before the Last Great Race on Earth begins.....Im getting really excited!!! I watched the Yukon Quest very closely this year and was jazzed to see Allen Moore and his team of awesome sled dogs (with Golden Girls Quito and Olivia in Lead) cross the finish line first! Way to go Allen!! Now you have to wonder how many of those dogs will be on Aliy's Team for Iditarod? Time will tell....she promised to post the team line up the night before the race! I'm really hoping Aliy and her dogs win this year....Allen and her have done such a great job at SP Kennels and I really feel this may be their year! BUT there are a bunch of capable Teams out there...Dallas, King, Mitch Seavey.....you know....the regular line up of fantastic Sled Dog Teams. So check in often, I will be posting more as we draw nearer to the March 2nd start!! For those of you new to the sport....the links at the top of my Blog are great places to get you started on getting all geared up for the 2013 Iditarod....the Last Great Race on Earth!!!