i'm not even going to pretend like i know what i'm talking about when it comes to sled dogs. the only thing i know is that during the winter time, it's a blast to tie your labrador to a snow tube and continuously throw the tennis ball around the yard until you think he's gassed. but once you have mastered this and are from either alaska or the yukon, you lace 'em up with the big boys and compete in the iditarod.
on march 18th, lance mackey accomplished what only two other people have done before him, winning his 3rd consecutive iditarod. he finished the 1,150 mile race from anchorage to nome in a time of 9 days 21 hours 38 minutes 46 second.
race highlights:
-one of his two lead dogs is a 9 year old husky named larry.
-he beat out the second place finisher by 6 hours.
-his winnings were $69K and a new apple red pick up.
sled dog fun facts:
-the average racing dog consumes between 10K-15K calories a day.
-the most fit sled dog can travel 90+ miles in a 24 hour time period while pulling 85 pounds.
-in good conditions, a sled dog can average 20 mph over a 25 mile distance.
-mushers protect their dog's paws with polar-fleece booties that they tie on. over the course of the iditarod, a musher will go through 2,000 booties that can individually last up to a few hours or a 100 miles.
-balto and togo were bad asses.
on
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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