Sled dog racing is a sport in which harnessed dog
teams compete. A team is controlled by a driver, otherwise known as a musher, and the primary goal is to
maximize either the distance covered or speed.
History
European racing originated in Scandinavia, where
competitions can be traced back to the 18th century.
Although Eskimos used dog sleds for hunting, travel,
and recreation in the precolonial period, the first North
American races did not occur until the late 19th century. Possibly early competition grew out of rival
groups of gold prospectors or fur trappers challenging
one another to see who had the fastest sled and the best
team of racing dogs.
The writer Jack London helped introduce these
dogs, and indirectly their sleds, into the mainstream of
American life. With his novels The Call of the Wild and
White Fang, London described a wild dog (probably a
composite of Siberian huskies or malamutes that he
had seen) and explored notions of a dog being tamed
and yet never escaping its savage origins.
The event that catapulted sled dog racing onto the
front pages of newspapers around the world was a 1925
diphtheria outbreak in the Alaskan township of Nome.
Hundreds of people were at risk and could not be
reached by road or air because of ground conditions
and severe weather, and the only way to get serum to
them was by dogsled.
The sport was and is a minor one with limited international appeal, lending itself to polar and subpolar regions. The first organized race was the 1908 All-Alaskan
Sweepstake, a round-trip race between the townships of
Candle and Nome in Alaska. The distance was 656 kilometers (408 miles). In 1936 the Laconia Sled Dog Club
of New Hampshire organized the first World Championship Derby. The International Sled Dog Racing Association was launched in 1966, which led to the development of a racing circuit. The most famous of these races is the Iditarod, inaugurated in 1973, which begins in
Anchorage,Alaska, and crosses the Alaska Range, turns
west along the Yukon River and continues up the Bering
Sea coast to Nome. The race takes approximately 11
days.
Rules and Play
Sled dog teams—commonly seven or nine dogs—are
traditionally composed of Siberian or Alaskan huskies.
Racing sleds must be incredibly light and strong
enough to carry equipment, provisions, or a sick or fatigued dog. Sled dogs must consume 800 calories daily
when at rest in summer; during a long winter race, they
may need up to 10,000 calories daily.
The Iditarod has become the most widely recognized sled dog race, but many more are held. In
1977–1978 200 sled dog races were held worldwide for
a total prize money of $250,000. That year, the champion musher was a 44-year-old Athabascan Native
American named George “Muhammad” Attla.
Sled dog racing may never be more than a minor
sport, but its drama, romance, and challenge ensures a
loyal core of fans.
—SCOTT A. G. M. CRAWFORD
Bibliography: Living Dangerously. (1989) Public Broadcasting System (documentary film).