Sheep Mountain 150 Dog Sled Race
The Sled Dog racing season is off with a "mush!" from Sheep Mountain this year. The Sheep Mountain 150 Dog Sled Race, which was cancelled last year due to poor trail conditions (read: no snow), is back in action with several top mushers on the rails including Jeff King (probably the best known musher in this race, having won the Iditarod 4 times), Dee Dee Jonrowe, Ken Anderson and Hans Gatt (a Canadian musher who has won the Yukon Quest).
I recognized several other names on the roster, including Jessica Hendricks who won the Junior Iditarod in 2002 and at 18 ran the Iditarod and claimed the prize for Rookie of the Year. She has been placing respectably in "the big race" ever since. This is a great snow year so far and the dogs and their humans must be loving the trail.
The race starts and finishes at Sheep Mountain Lodge with the turnaround point at Eureka Lodge. The distance is 150 miles. First prize is $1750 (it costs about $200 to enter). Lance Mackey, who is not running the race this year, won it in both 2004 and 2006. Ken Anderson won in 2005. Go to the link above to get race updates!
Racing and running with the pack is no easy hobby. There is an incredible amount of work and training that goes into this sport. You can experience the joys of mushing with several professional mushers in Alaska. Mushing goes back 10,000 years up here, so it is a VERY Alaskan thing to do while you're in town.
