I agree. I like the long distance part most, and endulge in that a little
bit myself. Its the racing part I dont like. But, if you go back to
Swenson, Buser, Redington, Butcher, the race was purely genuine. Heck,
imaging the serum run, that must have been more hell on the dogs than
anything. They were running those dogs without as much concern for the dogs
as the people who needed the medicine. All the vets now, and dog checks. So
anyway you look at it, its all gotten better. They may have money, and want
to participate in an extreme sport, but they still have to abide by all the
rules. And sick dogs get dropped. SO in the end the dog wins by getting
all the care and attention it never sees otherwise. I still know what you
mean, i dont like the attitude that someone can get into the sport to race
the Iditarod. I like the idea that mushers with racing dogs like to compete
in the race.

"Darby Wiggins" wrote in message
...
Melinda,
Your completely right. Growing up as a child in Alaska, it was more
about the dogs and the history of the run. Now, its just another extreme
sport. You have enough money, you can buy yourself a trainer, a sled and
some dogs.... such a shame. I wish the good 'ol days of Susan Butcher,
Rick Swenson and Martin Buser fighting it out were still around....

Darby

Melinda Shore wrote:

In article . net,
Wolf " wrote:
http://wolfdogg.soldierlink.com/iditarod/

I hope you're being more careful this year to get your
information correct before telling people that they can
learn something from your website.

However, for people who are interested and for accurate
information, go to http://www.iditarod.com, and Cabela's
always has good coverage and features once it get closer to
race time.

I'm not crazy about extremely long-distance racing, but
among them I find the Yukon Quest a lot more interesting.
The Iditarod gets too many drivers who aren't really dog
people but are interested in doing an extreme stunt, and the
Quest is more of a musher's race. It's also a tougher race,
with more challenging terrain and weather and longer
distances between checkpoints.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

In 1978, George Bush was warning that Social Security
would go broke in 10 years