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Going to the dogs

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, December 11, 2001

By Leslie Moriarty / Herald Writer

Machias girl to ride first leg of Iditarod

By Leslie Moriarty

Herald Writer

MACHIAS — Eight-year-old Laura Pearson sat wide-eyed in the audience.

Iditarod racer David Straub was speaking about the Alaska dog sled race as Midnight, a five-year-old Alaskan Husky, paraded around the school gymnasium decked out in her red jacket and black dog booties.

Laura listened intently. She had to. Next March, she’s going to ride with him at the 2002 race opening ceremony.

Iditarod primer

Facts about the Iditarod from musher David Straub:

  • The race is 1,049 miles long across Alaska. Each day the musher, dogs and sled travel about 90 miles. The entire race takes from 12 to 14 days.

  • Most of the dogs used are Alaskan Huskies and weigh about 50 pounds.

  • ?The dogs normally eat dry dog food, but during the race they are fed raw fish and other meats with high fat content, to keep them running.

  • Each musher can have up to 16 dogs in the race.

  • Iditarod is the name of an old gold mining camp where dogs used to take gold out of the mines. The idea for the race came about when dogs were used in a relay fashion to take needed medicines to sick children in Nome, Alaska, where no other transportation could go.

  • Learn more at www.alaskansleddogs.com, or contact Straub at david@alaskaansleddogs.com. Also, you can write or call: Alaskan Sled Dog Kennel, PO Box 452 Willow, Alaska 99688, phone: 907 495-RIDE or outside Alaska toll FREE at 877 495-RIDE.

    		•

    Laura and her classmates were following the 2001 Iditarod when Straub, the musher Laura was focusing on, was hurt in a racing accident. Laura spearheaded a Machias Elementary School drive to help Straub with his medical expenses.

    "What she did for me touched my heart so much," Straub said. "I wanted to thank her in the best way possible."

    Because of her support, Straub and his sponsors have arranged to have Laura ride in the first 10 miles of the "ceremonial race" that takes place on opening day, the day before the actual race begins.

    Laura and other students at Machias Elementary on Tuesday finally met Straub and Midnight after helping Straub recover from his injuries earlier this year.

    It was a day the kids, especially third-grader Laura, had eagerly awaited. Last year, they studied the Iditarod as a class project. Each chose a musher, a dog sled driver, and tracked his or her progress via the Internet.

    Laura, now 8, chose Straub. She charted his progress daily. But in the fourth day, on a rocky trail at Farewell Burn, Straub fell and dislocated his shoulder.

    Laura was concerned. So she began collecting money from her friends and classmates to help pay for Straub’s medical care.

    "I knew that he needed help," she said. "And I knew that if we didn’t help him, he wouldn’t be able to race again."

    In all, she sent him "$100 and one cent," she said proudly. Eight dollars was her own contribution.

    By exchanging e-mails, letters and telephone calls, Straub and Laura became good friends. He decided they should meet.

    And parents and teachers agreed, raising money to bring Straub to the school to speak about the Iditarod races.

    Straub has raced in two Iditarods; last year’s and the 2000 race where he quit at the 400-mile mark because his dogs couldn’t go the rest of the way.

    At the school Tuesday, students sat quietly in an assembly as Straub told them about the rigors of the race.

    "It’s long, and it can be very cold," he said.

    He showed them the clothing the dogs wear, and he dressed a volunteer student in his race gear: pants, parka, boots, mittens and a polar-bear-lined hood that forms a tunnel to keep out the wind.

    Midnight posed so that Straub could show the ropes that clip the dogs together when they run as a team. And he displayed the big metal "dog anchor" that he drops and digs into the ground to keep the dogs from running off when they’re taking a break.

    Students wanted to know how the dogs know where to go.

    "There are wooden markers with bright paint on them that I can see that lead us down the trail," Straub said. "When I see them, I command the dogs either with voice commands or by signaling them with my hand."

    He said hand commands are necessary because sometimes the winds are so strong the dogs can’t hear him.

    They also asked about how much the dogs can carry.

    "I run with a pack of eight dogs and each can carry up to two times his or her weight," he said. That’s roughly 800 pounds, he said, including the sled, himself and the supplies.

    Even though the temperatures in March could drop below zero, Laura’s ready to go.

    "I think it’s going to be pretty much fun," she said. "And I’m getting a special, very warm coat to wear in the race to keep warm."

    Laura, who loves animals and has nine dogs, two cats, two fish, one bird and one rabbit at home, thinks the dogs are the neatest part of the Iditarod.

    "Just that they can pull the sled, and the musher and all the supplies," she said. "I didn’t know dogs were that strong."

    You can call Herald Writer Leslie Moriarty at 425-339-3436

    or send e-mail to moriarty@heraldnet.com.

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