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Q. How many teams can enter the Iditarod?

A. So far, there is no limit to how many people can run the race every year. However, about a hundred mushers would probably be as many as the race could handle because of the need to move supplies and volunteers (and dropped dogs) to and from remote checkpoints. Also, some of the smaller checkpoints would become extremely crowded if too many mushers stopped at once.

Q. How many mushers run the Iditarod?

A. Most years about 50 to 70 mushers enter the race, but a number always drop out before start day for various reasons (usually lack of money). The average number of mushers actually starting over the past five years has been about 55. The race with the fewest mushers was the first Iditarod in 1973, with 34 teams; 22 of these finished, the smallest number of finishers so far. The next fewest number of starters was in 1978, with 39 teams. The most mushers to start was in 1992, when 76 left Anchorage. The highest number of finishers was also in 1992, when 63 teams crossed under the burled arch in Nome. The 2000 race could easily be the biggest Iditarod ever, which would make it the biggest sled dog race in history.

Q. How many dogs are there in each team?

A. Mushers can have up to 20 dogs officially approved and ready to go for the Iditarod, but they can't use all of them. For the ceremonial start in Anchorage, each team has 12 dogs from the total of 20. For the restart at Wasilla, which is the real start of the race, each team can start with 16 dogs, but no fewer than 12. Until not too long ago, there was no limit on how many dogs a musher could use. Some teams started with 20 or more dogs. The limit was lowered to 16 because the bigger teams were very difficult to control, and most mushers just dropped many of the dogs after they crossed the Alaska Range and didn't need the extra pulling power. Most mushers prefer to run the last half of the Iditarod with teams of 10 to 12 dogs a team of that size provides plenty of power but doesn't require a lot of time to feed and care for in the checkpoints.

Q. What is the biggest dog team?

A. In the history of mushing, some teams have been very large indeed: some of the old freight teams in the early 1900s had as many as 30 or 40 dogs pulling three or more big sleds, one behind the other. They hauled everything from gold dust to pianos to and from gold rush towns like Nome. In the 1960s, Eskimo villagers on Nelson Island on the Bering Sea moved their entire town, including whole buildings, to a new location a few miles away with teams of a hundred dogs. Nowadays all dog races set various limits for the number of dogs mushers can use. For instance, the Junior Iditarod limits mushers to 10 dogs, the Copper Basin 300 only allows 12 dogs per team, while the Yukon Quest (almost as long as the Iditarod) permits 14 dogs, and the Klondike 300 limits teams to 16. Sprint races, which usually involve heats of no more than 25 to 30 miles a day and in which dogs can average 25 miles an hour or more, often have open classes where mushers can use as many dogs as they like. Teams as big as 26 dogs can be seen in big sprint races like the North American Championships in Fairbanks or the World Championships at the Fur Rendezvous in Anchorage.

Q. How many dogs total are at the start of the race?

A. Almost all mushers leave the restart with 16 dogs. If 60 teams start, there are about 60 times 16, or 960 dogs. If 80 teams start, there will be almost 1,300 dogs. (And this doesn't count the four extra dogs for each team that stay in the dog truck and don't go.)

Q. Can dogs be added or replaced on the trail?

A. Not on the Iditarod or any other traditional long-distance dog race. However, one special kind of distance race, called a stage race, is like a series of short one-day races end-to-end. Everyone stays at the same place overnight and mushers can have their dog trucks and handlers at every checkpoint. For stage races, mushers can usually pick their teams every morning from the dogs they have available on their trucks. The biggest stage race is the Wyoming Stage Stop Race, which is based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Q. What happens to dogs that get sick or tired on the trail?

A. If a dog gets sick or tired, a musher can drop it, or leave it at any checkpoint. The dog will then be looked after by veterinarians and flown back to Anchorage, where it can be picked up and taken home. Most mushers will drop between four and ten dogs on the trail. Last year I dropped five dogs, scattered all the way from McGrath to Elim, mostly for sore feet and shoulders.

Q. What is the minimum number of dogs on a team to finish the race?

A. Iditarod teams must finish with at five dogs in harness and on the towline in front of the sled. Iditarod dogs are very strong and five dogs can easily pull a sled, especially if it is light and there are not many hills. However, many mushers feel that about seven dogs is the minimum number to pull a normally loaded sled and still keep up a good pace for a long distance.

Q. What is the most number of dogs ever to finish the race?

A. Most mushers finish in Nome with 8 to 10 dogs. The highest number of dogs ever to reach Nome on a team was in 1993, when musher Bert Hanson finished with 18 dogs, a remarkable accomplishment. He started with 20 dogs but dropped two dogs in Knik, right after the restart. This record will never be broken because the rules have been changed so that no one can start the race with more than 16 dogs.

Q. What kind of gear do you carry in your sled?

A. Each musher must carry a minimum amount of gear in the sleds. Some of this is survival gear and some is special for the race. Every musher must carry an ax, sleeping bag, snowshoes, a stove to heat water (plus fuel), two sets of booties for each dog, a packet of mail to be delivered to Nome, and a veterinary notebook where dog information is recorded at each checkpoint. A musher will also carry a headlamp, extra batteries, handwarmers, extra clothing, coats for the dogs if it gets really cold, dog food, spare parts for the sled, spare lines and snaps, and medicines for dogs and people. The total amount of gear in the sled usually weighs about 50 to 75 pounds. Sometimes it can be a lot more, such as when it's necessary to carry extra dog food on a long leg, or when a sick, injured, or tired dog must be put in the sled and carried to the next checkpoint. Most mushers will try to keep their weight to an absolute minimum for the last part of the race, sometimes reducing the contents of their sleds to 20 or 30 pounds. It has become a tradition at White Mountain, 77 miles from Nome, to get rid of absolutely everything not needed for the trip to the finish line.

Q. Do you carry a gun on the trail?

A. Yes. Almost all mushers carry a pistol or maybe a small shotgun in case a moose or other wild animal attacks the team. In the past, moose have hurt of even killed dogs on the trail. In 1996 mushers worried about polar bears on the Bering Sea coast. In 1997 there were rabid foxes along the route. In some years, like 1999, wolves follow teams (although no one has ever had to shoot one).

Q. What route will the race use?

A. The race very loosely follows the old Iditarod Trail, which was laid out in 1909 from Seward to Iditarod, with an extension from Iditarod to Nome. Nowadays the actual race route only uses parts of the original trail. The race has been re-routed in many places to include villages and towns that were not on the original Iditarod Trail. The first Iditarod in 1973 didn't even go through Iditarod. The initial race went north to the Yukon, bypassing the old ghost town that gave the race its name. In the late 1970s the middle part of the race was changed to run through Iditarod and then over to the Yukon. Ever since then, the route of the initial race has been called the Northern Route and is used in even-numbered years. This is the route that will be run in 2000. In odd-numbered years the race uses the Southern Route through Iditarod.

Q. What are the checkpoints and how far apart are they?

A. The Northern Route is a little shorter than the Southern Route and has one less checkpoint. For the 2000 race there will be 26 checkpoints:

Anchorage (ceremonial race start on Saturday)

Eagle River (20 miles from Anchorage)

Wasilla (race restart on Sunday; dogs are trucked from Eagle River)

Knik (14 miles from Wasilla)

Yentna Station (52 miles)

Skwentna (34 miles)

Finger Lake (45 miles)

Rainy Pass (30 miles)

Rohn Roadhouse (48 miles)

Nikolai (94 miles)

McGrath (48 miles)

Takotna (22 miles)

Ophir (38 miles)

Cripple (60 miles)

Ruby (112 miles)

Galena (52 miles)

Nulato (52 miles)

Kaltag (42 miles)

Unalakleet (90 miles)

Shaktoolik (40 miles)

Koyuk (58 miles)

Elim (48 miles)

Golovin (28 miles)

White Mountain (18 miles)

Safety Roadhouse (55 miles)

Nome (22 miles)

Historical Notes: Some checkpoints have been changed or dropped over the years for various reasons.

--Until the early 1990s the first part of the race route went from Knik to Skwentna via checkpoints at Susitna Station and Rabbit Lake. The checkpoint at Susitna Station was discontinued and the route was changed to run up the Yentna River to Yentna Station and then to Skwentna mainly because the river trail was easier to maintain.

--Until the late 1970s there was a checkpoint at Farewell Station, between Rohn and Nikolai. The race route was changed to by pass Farewell Station and use the original Iditarod Trail after the Bear Creek Fire in 1978, which created the Farewell Burn.

--The checkpoint at Sulatna Crossing, between Cripple and Ruby, was discontinued in the early 1990s because it was too difficult to resupply. This created the race's longest leg, 112 miles from Cripple to Ruby.

-- Golovin was originally a full-fledged checkpoint but mushers are now only required to stop and sign in on their way to White Mountain (although some drivers take extra time there to warm up or visit).

Q. How long do mushers spend in checkpoints?

A. Mushers spend anywhere from a few minutes to a whole day or even longer at checkpoints. All mushers have three mandatory layovers, including 8 hours at any checkpoint on the Yukon River, 8 hours at White Mountain, and 24 hours at any checkpoint they wish. The mandatory layovers cannot be combined. Most mushers do their "24" at Nikolai, McGrath, or Takotna. Time spent at other checkpoints depends on several things such as weather, how tired the dogs are, and how far it is to the next checkpoint or place to rest. Sometimes mushers will just sign in and out of a checkpoint as quickly as they can if they don't need to stop. Some mushers prefer to just stop in and pick up their food bags and then go out on the trail somewhere to camp. If the weather gets bad, as it did at Shaktoolik this year, mushers can spend more than a day waiting in a checkpoint. Most stops, though, are about four to six hours, which allows time for the dogs to get a good meal and a few hours' rest.

Q. Do mushers sleep on the trail?

A. Not much. Every musher gets very tired by the end of the race from lack of sleep in addition to the extreme physical exertion. Usually mushers can get a nap of an hour or two in the checkpoints and maybe a four- or five-hour rest at the longer stops. Some drivers will stop their team along the trail for a short nap if they get so tired they just can't continue. Many mushers try to catch short naps on their sleds while the team is moving, but they must be careful not to fall off. (It's not good to fall off because the dogs will usually just keep going and they go a lot faster than a musher can run. If that happens, the musher just has to start walking up the trail after them and hope they will stop before too long. Sometimes a dismounted musher can hitch a ride with another team or even with a passing snowmachiner--if one happens along in the middle of nowhere.)

Q. How old do you have to be to run the Iditarod?

A. The minimum age for the Iditarod--and most other races in Alaska--is 18. However, Alaska has a number of youth mushing programs with their own short races. Also, the Junior Iditarod is especially set up for mushers from 14 to 17 years old. It is 160 miles long and uses the first part of the Iditarod Trail, from Wasilla out to Yentna Station and return. The youngest musher to run the Iditarod was Tim Osmar, who turned 18 less than three weeks before he started his first Iditarod in 1985. The youngest woman to complete the race was Kimarie Hanson, a high-school senior from Anchorage who was 18 when she finished in 1998. (Both Tim and Kimarie had run in the Junior Iditarod before running the Iditarod.)

Q. Does everyone start at the same time? Does every musher have a number?

A. The mushers draw starting numbers at the Musher's Banquet on the Thursday before the race. This becomes their bib number and they keep it throughout the race. The first starting position is ceremonial, with no musher, and is used to honor people who have contributed to the race or to mushing. The only exception to this was in 1997, when Joe Redington, Sr., the Father of the Iditarod, was chosen to start in the number one position. Mushers leave the starting line every two minutes, with every fifth musher waiting three minutes for a television commercial.

Q. What is the ceremonial start? What is the restart?

A. For the first few Iditarods, all mushers left the starting line in Anchorage (which wasn't always on Fourth Avenue) and ran all the way to Nome. Between Eagle River and Knik, teams had to cross a series of highway bridges over the Knik and Matanuska Rivers, which rarely freeze. By the late 1970s, traffic on the highway bridges was too heavy to allow the teams to use them safely. Then the mushers had to put their teams back on their trucks and drive them out to the Wasilla area on the other side of the bridges, where they re-started exactly four hours after they reached Eagle River. The times from Anchorage to Eagle River were counted in the overall time to Nome. This arrangement worked well until 1994, when lack of snow limited mushers to six dogs at the Saturday morning Anchorage start and only let them go a couple of miles. In addition, the restart location was forced all the way out to Willow, almost 60 miles from Anchorage and 30 miles past Wasilla on a two-lane highway. There was no way to get all of the dog trucks and the thousands of spectators out to Willow in four hours, so race officials decided to delay the restart for a full day and duplicate the two-minute-interval Anchorage start Sunday morning at Willow. The 24- hour delay for the restart proved so popular with mushers and spectators alike that it was made permanent beginning with the 1995 race. The adoption of the Sunday restart also meant that the times from Anchorage to Eagle River no longer count, thus making the Anchorage start only a ceremonial affair. The restart is always planned for Wasilla, but the official backup location is Willow in case there is not enough snow around Wasilla.

Q. What is it like in Alaska? How hot does it get? How cold does it get?

A. Alaska is so big it is like many different states or even countries. It is more than twice as big as Texas and is almost as big as all of Western Europe. It has the biggest mountains in North America, but also valleys and plains that are almost as big as entire states. Alaska has more than 33,000 miles of ocean shoreline, more than all of the other 49 states combined. The southern and interior parts of Alaska have thick forests, but there are areas of barren tundra where on grasses and shrubs grow. There are many big rivers, including the Yukon, which is second only to the Mississippi in the United States in length and size. Alaska does not have many roads--in fact, Alaska has fewer miles of roads than New Hampshire, with more than 200 towns and villages not on the road system. In the summer, people use airplanes and boats to go to off-road places. In the winter, they use airplanes and snowmobiles (locally called snowmachines)--or even dog teams--to go where there aren't highways. In the summer, it can get warm in Alaska, with a record temperature of 100 degrees at Fort Yukon, northeast of Fairbanks. Interior Alaska often sees summer days of 70 to 90 degrees, while places along the Arctic Ocean may only reach 40 or 50. The southern coastal areas, including Anchorage, don't get much above 70 in the summer. In the winter, areas away from the coastline can become frigid as cold air collects in the broad interior valleys and keeps getting colder night after night under clear, calm, starry skies. Temperatures can drop down to 40 below and colder and stay there for days or even weeks. The state's record cold temperature is 82 below zero at Coldfoot, north of Fairbanks. Some sled dog races can get quite cold, even within 50 miles of Anchorage. Forty or 50 below on the trail isn't all that unusual, although often only for short stretches where trails run down in river bottoms and swamps. On the other hand, coastal areas in southern Alaska are frequently above freezing in the winter even while valleys just inland are well below zero. Occasionally in the dead of winter big low-pressure systems will sweep in from the North Pacific, sometimes blasting the temperature from 50 below zero to 40 above zero in a day or two in places like Fairbanks and even causing some of the snow and ice to start melting. Such midwinter thaws can be nightmares for mushers and snowmachiners, who count on the weather staying reasonably cold and dry to keep the trails in good shape. For the Iditarod, temperatures usually stay between 20 above and 20 below zero, with temperatures often up to 30 on the Anchorage end. However, the 1998 race was above freezing (it even rained on the Bering Sea coast) and the 1999 race saw several long stretches of brutal 50-below temperatures and 60-mile-an-hour winds and 100-below chill factors, even in the same areas where it had been raining the year before.

Q. How long do dogs and drivers train for the race?

A. Many mushers train year round, but the heaviest training starts in September, even before the snow falls. Most people use ATVs to run the dogs until they can go to sleds. The dogs are run almost every day, gradually increasing the distance from three miles up to thirty or better by December. Most mushers try to run their dogs in a couple of mid-distance races (200 or 300 miles) before the Iditarod. By the time the Iditarod begins, most of the dogs will have run well over a thousand miles in training, and some may have two thousand or more. Most mushers will continue running until the snow melts, which isn't until late April in northern parts of Alaska. In fact, one of the biggest races, the Kobuk 440 in Kotzebue, doesn't even start until mid-April.

Q. How do you make your dogs behave?

A. I consider my dogs to be my pets. I even let most of them into the house at times. I rely on my dogs trusting me, just as I trust them. If they become rambunctious, a strong word or two will usually remind them what they should be doing. At the very worst, I make a big show of breaking off a willow branch and waving it around a little bit, but I never have to use it. This year I didn't have any fights at all on the race. My dogs are my friends; it wouldn't be any fun running a team if they weren't.

Q. How much food do you use on the race?

A. Sled dogs are among Nature's most aerobically efficient athletes. Their endurance is nothing short of incredible, allowing them to run a hundred miles or more a day and to do this day after day. The dogs must have lots of fuel to keep their boilers going at full speed, or about 6,000 to 10,000 calories a day on the race. This means they will eat between three and five pounds of high-quality dry dog food and meat every day. Naturally, mushers don't carry all of the food for the whole race in their sleds. It's all shipped out ahead of the race and is waiting at each checkpoint. The race requires that each musher ship a lot more food to the checkpoints than will actually be needed. A lot of this food won't be used and will wind up going to the local villagers. I usually ship out about 1,800 pounds of food before the race; I probably need less than half of it. The extra food is mainly there in case I get caught by a storm. This year I and several other mushers spent half a day at Shaktoolik; in previous years I've spent as long as a day and a half there and at Unalakleet. Those are the times I'm glad to have the extra food.

Q. Can you use more than one musher per sled?

A. No. For the first Iditarod, a few teams had two mushers per sled, but that was the only time it was allowed. Nowadays the same musher must run the team all the way from Anchorage to Nome.

Q. Where do you get your sleds?

A. Some mushers build their own sleds, but most buy them from people who specialize in making sleds. A good Iditarod sled can cost from $700 to $3,000.

Q. How much do dogs cost?

A. If you were to go to one of the big-name mushers to buy some dogs, you could pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand per dog. A good lead dog can cost $5,000 or more. Many mushers breed their own dogs; I have been running a few dogs from my own lot for the last three years and will run more in the future. Beginning mushers can often get older sled dogs very cheap or even for free for veteran mushers. This is how I started.

Q. How old are Iditarod dogs?

A. Most of the top mushers use dogs that are three to six years old. They usually try to sell them or even give them away when they slow down and can't keep up with the fast, young dogs. Some mushers run second teams to Nome with their younger dogs, some as young as a year and a half. Older dogs also run the Iditarod, although usually on slower teams. Seven- and eight-year-old dogs are not uncommon on the trail, and some dogs have run to Nome even when they are 11 or 12 years old.

Q. What are some of your dogs' names?

A. Some of my dogs' names are Cutter, Chena, Weasel, Shane, Ginger, Toby, Rex, Bonnie, Clyde, Pal, Big Mac, Bullwinkle, Nepo, Silvertip, Squeaky, Soapy, Bandit, Bandito, Dudley, Hank, Zack, Zeb, Gator, Gus, Batman, Little Bear, Polar Bear, Maybelline, Mayan, May, Xena, Blinky, Rondy, Glance, Peeper, and Pronto. I have three puppies named Screamer, Taffy, and Earless.

Q. What do mushers wear for clothing?

A. Mushers wear the very best cold-weather clothes they can buy. This is often the same kind of clothing that explorers wear to places like Antarctica. Most outfits include long underwear, Polar Fleece pants and shirt, a heavy snowsuit, and a very heavy parka with a good ruff to keep out the wind. Mushers also wear a warm, insulated cap with ear flaps, and maybe even a face mask and ski goggles. All mushers carry several pairs of gloves, including a very thick pair of mittens to keep their hands warm. Everyone wears heavy boots; some mushers wear the white rubber military "bunny boots", while others use boots from manufacturers such as Sorel, Northern Outfitters, LaCrosse, Timberland, and Cabela's. These boots are all designed to keep feet warn down to 80 below or colder.

Q. Do you have fun racing?

A. Sometimes during a race I wonder if I'm having fun, but after it's over there's no question it was fun and more than worth all the work. Actually, there's plenty of time to enjoy everything out on the trail. Most mushers race mainly because they enjoy being out with their dogs. Traveling by dog sled is a very special way to travel, since the dogs are actually your best friends.

Q. How many dogs do you have?

A. I have about 45 dogs (and one cat). About 25 of these dogs are adults, between 3 and 8 years old. A couple are older dogs who are retired. The rest are younger dogs and puppies. The numbers will change periodically when I get new dogs or sell or give away others.

Q. How do you train your dogs?

A. I pick 20 to 25 of my best dogs to train for my team every year. In September, before snow falls, I'll begin running them nine or ten at a time on the four-wheeler to build strength. I'll start at about 30 minutes of running and increase the time every few runs until we're at an hour. By then there should be enough snow to go to sleds and I'll hook up small teams (6 or 8 dogs) and start at an hour (10 to 15 miles) and begin working up. I'll try to run the dogs at least once every three days, and ideally four or five days out of every week. By mid-December we should be able to go out for four hours at a time and cover 40 miles with just a few five- minute breaks. By the time we go to the first races in January I'd like to have the dogs able to go for 5 hours or 50 miles, and ideally every dog will have run at least 600 miles in training. After that, the dogs are basically conditioned and I just need to run them to accumulate miles and expose them to different trail conditions. By the time the Iditarod starts, I'd like the dogs to have at least 1,500 miles and be able to run 6 hours or 60 miles between long rests. Many mushers in the Iditarod nowadays plan to try to run their dogs on a schedule of six hours of running (with a few short breaks) followed by six hours of rest.

Q. What was the hardest part of the trail?

A. This changes every year. It depends on a lot of factors, including weather and trail conditions. Some sections are difficult every year, such as the stretch from Finger Lake over Rainy Pass and down the Dalzell Gorge to Rohn. And the 20 miles just after leaving Rohn can also be tough. Anywhere on the coast from Unalakleet to Nome can be very hard, depending on the weather. Actually, any part of the race can be a showstopper. Every year we just have to see what happens and work our way through.

Q. Do you have to use new dogs every year?

A. No. In fact, most mushers prefer to use dogs that have made the trip to Nome at least once. Most Iditarod dogs are in their prime from the time they are three years old until they are six or seven. Some two-year-olds make the run every year in order to get experience.

Q. What kind of dogs do you have?

A. My dogs are no particular breed. A few mushers still use Malemutes or Siberians, but most sled dogs are just called Alaskan huskies. They can be almost any color and can look like hounds or huskies or anything in between. The main thing is that they like to pull, have good appetites, and have good endurance. They aren't very big--the average Iditarod dog only weighs about 50 pounds. Some mushers prefer more males, some prefer more females. On average about the same number of males and females run the race every year.

Q. What was your biggest problem on the trail?

A. Not enough rest. Mushers never get enough sleep on the trail.

Q. How cold was it on the trail?

A. The 1999 race was one of the coldest in a long time. Temperatures dropped below minus 50 degrees in the Farewell Burn, on the trail down to Iditarod, and again on the trail to Unalakleet. Chill factors out on the Bering Sea coast dropped well below minus 100 at times. Some of the old- timers, however, say this winter was just a good, normal, old-fashioned Alaska winter, and that the winters during the past 15 years have generally been a lot warmer than during the first Iditarods.

Q. What did you like most about the race?

A. I got to be with my dogs for two weeks in some of the most incredible country in the world. It was like traveling with my best friends on the greatest adventure in the world. Although the trail was difficult, there were many times when it was very beautiful, and the northern lights were out almost every night. I think the dogs probably enjoyed it as much as I did.

Q. Did you see any moose or bears on the trail?

A. Not this year, although I have seen moose quite a few times in the past. I've been lucky and moose have never bothered me on the Iditarod. We rarely hear of bears on the trail because they are hibernating during the winter. Once in a great while a brown bear may wake up and go prowling for a little while, but they are few and far between. There are polar bears along a few parts of the northern Bering Sea, but they have only been seen during one Iditarod, in 1996, and they didn't bother anyone.

Q. Are there wolves on the trail?

A. This year we saw more wolves on the trail than have been seen in a long time. A number of mushers, including me, had wolves very close to their teams, particularly on the way down to Iditarod and out on the Yukon River. One musher had five wolves following his sled so closely he could have reached around and patted the lead wolf on the head (but he didn't). The wolves were apparently just curious about the strange packs going through their territory and didn't bother anyone. There is no record of wolves ever injuring a human or attacking a dog team, although wolves would probably kill a sled dog that became separated from its team.

Q. What do you feed the dogs on the trail?

A. Every day on the trail I have to make sure every dog get between 5,000 and 10,000 calories. At every checkpoint or long stop on the trail (which works out to every 6 to 12 hours) I mix dry dog food with chunks of frozen beef or lamb or turkey skins in a four-gallon bucket and pour hot water over it all. (Dogs can turn fat directly into energy in cold weather, so I include lots of fat, such as lamb and turkey skins, for extra calories.) I may also add some extra things like crushed-up dog biscuits and special high-performance additives. The hot water thaws the frozen meat and soaks into the dry dog food to create a wet mixture that the dogs love. Out on the trail I give them snacks of frozen beef and other goodies.

Q. What do you eat on the trail?

A. Mushers generally send out all kinds of food but usually get too busy or tired to eat much of it. I try to have lots of quick-energy food like candy and chocolate. I also have frozen pizzas and burritos and chimichangas that I can warm up while I'm making the hot water for the dog food. Almost every checkpoint has some food, including hamburgers, soup, sandwiches, and lots and lots of water and juice. We all drink lots of liquids. One of the biggest problems we have is getting dehydrated because the air is so dry and we're sweating so much. We drink several quarts of water and juice at every checkpoint. Must mushers also carry half a dozen thawed-out juice packs in their sleds to drink on the trail. Also, when it's really cold and we are working hard, many mushers eat lots of fat, just like the dogs. Fat has lots of calories and is necessary for the body to work well under very cold conditions. Natives in Alaska proved this many centuries ago. On the trail, we love to eat a big greasy cheeseburger whenever we get the chance because we're definitely not on a diet. In fact, everyone has to make a special effort to eat and drink enough on the trail. Like many mushers, I lose weight on the trail. This year I lost about 20 pounds by the time I got to Nome.

Q. How did you get started in mushing?

A. I was not a musher until about five years ago. Before that, I was a pilot in the Air Force for many years. When I was stationed in Alaska I met people who ran the Iditarod. I started to fly my own Cessna for the Iditarod as a volunteer pilot and finally decided to runt he race myself after watching my next-door neighbor, Ron Aldrich, finish the 1994 race in Nome. Ron ran the first Iditarod in 1973 and taught me a lot of what I need to learn about mushing.

Q. How many times have you run the Iditarod? Have you ever won? What other races have you run?

A. I have run in the last five Iditarods. I have never won or even come close to winning any money. This hasn't bothered me because all I want to do is make it to Nome. I started the 1995 race but scratched at Rainy Pass. I ran in 1996 and finished 48th. In 1997 I finished 40th and was awarded the Sportsmanship Award by the other mushers for helping a couple of rookies make it to Nome. I started in 1998 but got pneumonia and had to scratch at Nulato after 800 miles. I finished 44th in 1999. I have run lots of shorter races, including the Goose Bay 120, the Knik 200, the Klondike 300, and the Copper Basin 300. My best finish was 6th place in the 1999 Goose Bay 120. I finished 9th in the Klondike 300 in 1996.

Q. What do you do when you're not mushing?

A. In the summer I am the chief pilot for Hudson Air Service in Talkeetna. We fly climbers and tourists to and around Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain in North America. We also fly people out to their homesteads and mines and for hunting and fishing and hiking and camping. In the winter I am a certified elementary and middle school teacher and I do a lot of substitute teaching in the Matanuska-Susitna School District. I am also a writer and I have published a couple of books, one about flying and the other about running the Iditarod.

Q. Where do you live?

A. I live in a small cabin I built myself about 15 years ago. It's about 100 miles north of Anchorage on the Parks Highway, on the way to Fairbanks. There is plenty of room for me and the dogs. I must use a diesel generator for electricity, but I do have a regular phone. I have hot and cold running water and even a regular bathroom and shower. I use an oil heater for heat, and if it really gets cold I can fire up my trusty old woodstove as well. I also have propane lanterns for light when I don't want to run the generator.

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