Interview with Jeff Dieter

What do you find the biggest challenge preparing for the Iditarod?
My biggest challenge in training was completing the Qualifiers. Each musher has to run a 200 and 300 mile qualifing race, and the 300 was very difficult. It was about 55 below zero and I dropped a lot of dogs in the first 200 miles. It was tough to complete the race, but after finishing I had a sense of accomplishment and learned a lot from the race.

What is the biggest challenge for you on the trail?

The Iditarod was actually a lot of fun, but the biggest challenge was getting myself to sleep in the checkpoints.

How do you keep yourself motivated when you're on the trail?

I keep myself motivated by listening to a lot of music and thinking about my future goal and not focusing to much on the current conditions (especially if it is going really slow). I love Nickelback, Yonder Mountain String Band, Eminem, and Linkin Park when I am driving dogs.

What inspired you to want to race in the Iditarod?

When I was 5, I moved to the village of Noorvik about a hundred miles above the Arctic Circle. This is where I first learned about dogs and dog racing. I then read a book by Gary Paulsen, at age ten, called "Winterdance." This is what got me hooked on the Iditarod.

In your opinion is the Iditarod more physically challenging or more of a mental challenge?

Definetly a mental challenge! Keeping up beat and happy is very important for the dogs.

What is the main key to completing the race?
Staying happy and upbeat is really crutial for completing the race. It is also important to give the dogs plenty of care and make sure they are getting adequate hydration and calories.

Fun info
Running dogs is an incredible experience and sled dogs are a completely unique lifestyle. I spend about 3 hours a day feeding, scooping and maintaining the dogs. During the winter, I spend about another 6 to 8 hours training the dogs and entertaining the puppies.

Pictures

The Iditarod after global warming =P

Introduction

What athletic challenge takes strength, endurance, stamina, determination, and focus to enable the athlete to feel a sense of accomplishment? Perhaps the Olympics, marathons, triathlons, or even the Super Bowl may come to mind. However, these pale in comparison when one considers what it takes to complete the Iditarod Dog Sled Race. Only through hard work and perseverance can an individual survive Mother Nature’s ultimate test known as the Iditarod.

History

The origin of the Iditarod dates back to 1925 when the city of Nome, a northwestern Alaskan city on the Bering Sea, was threatened by a diphtheria epidemic. Children in Nome were dying due to the lack of serum needed to fight this disease. Hospitals in Anchorage had the only fresh supply of serum. The dilemma was that the ocean was iced over and the railroad stopped more than 600 miles short of Nome. It was decided that the antitoxin would be transported by dogsled the additional 674 miles from Nenana to Nome. Twenty dog teams of about 150 dogs relayed the medicine in a record of five days. Balto and his musher, Gunnar Kaasen, endured temperatures sixty below zero and 70 mile per hour winds while running the last leg of the relay, a 53 mile journey. Balto is now well known as the “Hero of Nome” and “Balto the Wonder Dog” (The Official Site).

Mother and Father of the Iditarod

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race was first run in 1973. Dorothy G. Page and Joe Redington Sr. were intrigued that dog teams could travel over the vast Alaskan land that was not accessible by automobile. Dorothy and Joe have become known as the “Mother of the Iditarod” and the “Father of the Iditarod”. These two people felt strongly that this amazing piece of Alaskan history should never be forgotten. They decided to reenact a similar dog sled trail in honor of what had been accomplished with the journey to save the children of Nome (The Official Site).

The Red Lantern

Sled dogs were often used to carry mail throughout Alaska. Dog drivers relied on roadhouses to stop at between villages. Word was relayed ahead to other roadhouses that a dog team was on the way. A kerosene lamp was hung outside the house to help the mail carriers locate their next stop along the trail. The lamp was not extinguished until the musher safely arrived. Beginning in 1986, Chevron USA continued the tradition by hanging a red lantern on the burl arch in Nome. The lantern is lit at the start of the race and not extinguished until the last musher has crossed the finish line. This last musher across the burl arch becomes the winner of the Red Lantern (Fuerst 17).