Showing posts with label Iditarod Trail Invitational. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iditarod Trail Invitational. Show all posts

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Iditarod: It's not just for dogs anymore




Can you believe it? We just had a token snowfall in the triangle this past weekend—missed a little school, had a few business delays, experienced some inconveniences—all so that we could say we had winter. Now that winter is “over,” temperatures this coming weekend may hit the low 80s.


Hey, not so fast! They take this winter thing seriously up in Alaska. Ever hear of Iditarod? Talk about VO2 maxes off the charts . . . those dogs are something! But that’s another story. Now humans are getting into the act . . .

This past Sunday was the start of the Iditarod Trail Invitational, the “ World’s longest [human] ultra race across frozen Alaska.” Participants sign up for 350- or 1100-mile events biking, skiing, or running across the Alaskan tundra.




“Billed as the ‘world’s longest human-powered winter ultra-race,’ Jeff , here, views the competition as not only a chance to see some of the country’s most remote terrain, but also as a source of personal satisfaction, having traversed the Alaska Range (the Northern end of the Rockies where Mt. McKinley is located) using only human power.”

RUSA member, Catherine Shenk, who completed the 2008 Last Chance 1200 with NC’s own Jerry and JoAnn, has checked into the control at mile 165.

This week, we’ll celebrate human achievement at the Iditarod. Next week, we’ll pull for the dawgs (and their human compatriots)!