In this clip, you will see three-time Anchorage World
Champion and three-time Fairbanks North American Champion Roxy Wright
Champaine take a spill in the World Championship Race. Charlie Champaine
will be describing how she fell to a TV audience.
When I visit schools or talk to people about sled dog racing, someone
will always ask me if I ever raced in the Iditarod. I try to explain the
difference between distance racing like the Iditarod and the type of racing
that Kelly and I did. It was called sprint racing. We went much shorter distances
at a much faster pace that the distance teams. The next four videos clearly
show the difference between the two types of races. The first one shows two
different Iditarod teams notice the speed they are traveling. Libby Riddles,
the first woman to win the Iditarod explains how beautiful it is to go through
Rainy Pass at sunset.
This video was taken during a World Championship Race in Anchorage. The
first team has traveled about 20 miles into the 25 miles race. Notice the
speed and what the team has to go through. Not the wilderness of Alaska
but right through the town of Anchorage. The second team is about a mile
from the finish line. After 24 miles notice the speed that they climb the
hill on Cordorva Street.
Each year author Ed White would volunteer for the World Championship
Sled Dog Race. He was at the first and last checkpoint called 15th and
Cordorva. He would help with the crowd and if the mushers needed help
he would help them also. Part of the job was to report the mushers times
to the TV and radio stations covering the races. One year a TV station
sent a film crew to his checkpoint to do a story on race volunteers.
Speaking of the Iditarod here is the song that is played in Alaska just
before and during the annual Iditarod sled dog race. Click here to play the song.