975 Miles to $550,000

Today, 66 people were pulled away by a team of dogs on the first day of the 40th annual Iditarod sled-dog race - arguably one of the most grueling races of all time.  The trail itself is 100 years old and was established as a primary means for transporting goods to Nome, Alaska when roads, railroads, equestrian, and air transit were not options due to the winter weather.  The race begins in Anchorage and teams take 10 days to make it to Nome.

While undoubtedly tough for the musher - the dogs doing most of real work, running and pulling several hundred pounds for an average of 100 miles/day.  The crazy thing?  They love it.  These dogs can't seem to get enough of it - they can run and pull, run and pull literally all day.  Apparently, they consume 10,000 calories a day while racing to compensate for how much energy they are burning.  To give you a comparison - Ginny (80lbs chocolate lab) eats 750 calories a day and she exercises for at least an hour a day.

You can read more about the Iditarod on their website and I suggest you do.  This history is really interesting and the race is very intense.  I wish the best of luck to all the mushers and dogs and I hope no one gets seriously hurt!

My Diigo Library

Below is  a link to some other really great dog blogs.  There are some pretty amazing stories about how animals have affected people's lives. 
http://www.diigo.com/user/ameliarae?type=all&privacy=public
Enjoy!