I took this photo of one of the teams running the race in 1999. In case you didn't know, this challenge is as much a head game as it is an endurance race. Mushers need to know how to read the trail, when to take breaks, when the weather’s too rough, how much and when to feed, when to send a dog home on the next plane and how to fix a broken sled. Oh, and they also need to be strong enough to go nine days or more with very little sleep. You see, the one thing these guys and gals depend on is their dogs. Every hound gets a hot meal, fresh water and bedding, a foot massage and change of booties, and anything else they need before the caregiver gets his or her food and a nap.
One of the great things about dog mushing is just about anyone can do it. There have been years that three generations of one family have run in the same race: grandpa, son, and grandson. Women run (and win!) the race, cancer survivors, and even a legally blind woman have made that long trip from the Anchorage area over windswept mountains and frozen seashores to Nome, the end of the trail. If you’ve ever watched these four-legged fuzzy fiends as they lug their food supplier and foot servant on a slick-runner sled, their smiles wide on their faces, you’ll know that they’re doing what they love to do: run!
The Polar Xpress is my novella about a woman who’s losing her vision but wants to run her dogs to Nome before she loses her sight completely. Wynter adopts dogs from other mushers, accepting the dogs that aren’t quite perfect, training and loving them despite their shortcomings. When she rescues Dr. Hernandez from his overturned snowmachine, she doesn’t expect him to stick around. Then again, she didn’t expect a winter storm to shut them in, either. Check out The Polar Xpress today.
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