Volunteering for the Iditarod
Posted February 23, 2015 at 5:50 am by Tim Dustrude
Kathryn Hansen plays in the snow with an Iditarod Sled Dog – Contributed photo
Louise Dustrude spoke with Kathryn Hansen about her volunteer work next week on the Iditarod Sled Dog race in Alaska and here’s her story…
How many volunteers does it take to put on the Iditarod sled dog race? If you check the website, it looks like it must be a couple thousand, at least.
Two volunteers this year, back for their second stint, are life partners Kathryn Hansen of Friday Harbor and Steve Perret of Bellingham.
Two years ago they vounteered as dog handlers for this granddaddy of all sled dog races. This year they can’t stay for the entire race, so they will be helping out with communications and statistics in the Anchorage office.
Steve Perret prepares to help out as a dog handler volunteer – Contributed photo
Kathryn is an animal lover and acknowledged adrenaline junkie. She and Steve devote many weekends every year to road races of various kinds, including time, speed, and distance rallies. In fact, they’ll drive (not fly) to Anchorage next week for the Iditarod so that they can check out the route for next winter’s Alcan 5000.
The ceremonial start of the race on March 7 will be, as always, in Anchorage. Two days later the restart (you might say, the real start) will be in Fairbanks. Most years the restart takes place in Willow, but there’s a dearth of snow this year making that route unsafe for sled dogs — hence the last-minute switch.
The number of mushers entering the race appears at this point to be about 60 men and 23 women. Each musher has to start with 16 dogs, and must finish with at least six. Many dogs have to drop out along the approximately 1000-mile trail for one reason or another, and one of the many volunteer jobs is transporting these dogs back to Anchorage and tending to them there until they can be picked up.
Other volunteers staff the 23 checkpoints along the trail — clocking the mushers in and out, providing places for them and their dogs to rest, serving food, and doing the multitude of other tasks necessary.
Is Kathryn a musher wannabe? “Probably.” Will Kathryn and Steve volunteer for another Iditarod? Certainly.
Kathryn works for the San Juan County Parks and Fair Department, and Steve works as an auto mechanic at Gundie’s Auto Wrecking in Bellingham.
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Categories: Around Here
2 comments:
2 comments...
The Iditarod is terribly cruel to dogs.
FACTS: http://helpsleddogs.org
I appreciate your comment, Margery. I understand that there are those who oppose sled dog competitions, such as the Iditarod. I will admit that, at first, I questioned subjecting dogs to the extreme racing conditions. I don’t intend to change your mind, only express what I have seen firsthand.
What I can tell you from my observation is that these dogs are geared to run. The dogs running the Iditarod are monitored by both their musher and veterinarians all along the course. If problems arise with a dog, it will be removed from the race and treated as needed. Each dog has a chain of custody that follows it through to its return to Anchorage, where dogs are lovingly cared for by trained volunteers and veterinarians, until a kennel representative comes to pick the animal up.
Having been around the teams at three Iditarods, I only observed true loving treatment by the mushers, caring words, lots of pets and play, and happy dogs.
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