Wednesday, March 25, 1998
Copyright 1998 Anchorage Daily News
Red lantern
Not as red as it used to be
By Daily News editorial staff
Seventeen years ago, Iditarod musher Larry "Cowboy" Smith stood under the burled arch on Front Street in Nome and said, roughly, "You give me good trail and cold weather and I'll get to Nome in 10 days."
Smith's words prompted people to shake their heads. A 10-day race? Even some top-flight mushers of the day thought 11 days was about the limit, and even that unlikely unless conditions were ideal.
Knowledge of feeding, breeding, training and all-around dog care and training have allowed the most competitive mushers to keep Cowboy Smith's old promise and go it a day better. The speed of the front end of the race is a wonder.
No less a wonder is the speed of the other end of the race. This year, musher Brad Pozarnsky of North Dakota, an Iditarod rookie but distance mushing veteran, logged the fastest last-place time in the history of the race at 14 days, 5 hours and 42 minutes. Even better, he became the first red-lantern winner to reach Nome in time for the awards banquet, traditionally held on the Sunday after the winner reaches Nome.
Longtime Iditarod veterinarian Dr. Bob Sept says that Iditarod rookies are much better prepared to run the race than they used to be. A two-year qualifying period is required now. "During that two-year period, they get to be better dog drivers," he said. "They behave like veterans."
There's still a long way from Jeff King to Brad Pozarnsky. But from the discipline of dog care in the checkpoints to the skilled handling of a sled, the back of the pack isn't as far removed from the front as it once was. That's good for the dogs and the race.