Dogs, snow and endurance: The sport of mushing

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Karen Land has an a nity for endurance sports, and for dogs.

Land was hiking the Appalachian Trail with her dog Kirby when she stopped to rest, shower and visit a small library to get a book to read in her tent.

She did, and it changed her life forever.

“ e book was called ‘Winter Dance’ by Gary Paulsen. It’s when I got inspired for the sport of dog mushing,” Land said.

Land has participated in the sport of sled dog racing and dog mushing for about 25 years and has participated multiple times in the grueling Iditarod Sled Dog race across Alaska. In her 2004 outing, she nished the course in just more than 12 days.

Land brought her story and two of her dogs, Noggin and Chloe, to Brighton’s Anythink Library Jan. 23. She visited the Perl Mack branch in Denver, York Street branch in ornton and the Commerce City branch later in the week.

Starting without good snow

Land grew up in Indianapolis and hadn’t heard of the sport of dog mushing or the Iditarod.

“We never had good snow in Indianapolis, so I learned about mushing later in life,” Land said.

But snow was just one ingredient. Another was a love for animals, and she had that. She began working in a veterinary hospital and clinic in Indianapolis when she nished high school. at’s when she met her eventual Appalachian Trail companion, Kirby.

“A stray dog showed up at the door, and we couldn’t nd its owner, so I decided to keep it,” she said.

Kirby was a Louisiana Catahoula mix, an energetic breed meant to hunt bears. e duo started hiking to stay busy, eventually hiking Indiana’s Nob Stone trail. ey moved to Montana where she nished college and decided to take on the Appalachian Trail – a feat in itself. e hiking trail is 2,100 miles between Georgia and Maine.

She had a new obsession when she returned.

“I got a job working for a dog musher because the sport is costly and requires lots of dogs,” Land said. Dogs and Iditarod e Iditarod race, her new obsession, startseach March in downtown Anchorage and ends in Nome, some 983 miles. Racers and their teams of dogs face blizzard conditions, winds of 90 miles per hour and windchills of 100 degrees below zero.

Land said that when she started in 1973 there were no rules as to how many dogs were in the race, so some people showed up with 20 dogs.

“ en the o cials decided 20 dogs was much power, so they dropped it to 16, and in the last several years, it’s down to 14 dogs, “ Land said. e dogs are monitored throughout, with EKGs, blood workups, and drug testing before the race. During the race, they stop at regular checkpoints where veterinarians look over the dogs and sleds. While racing, Land said she carries bags of frozen meat under her parka to keep her team fed. Sled dogs need to eat 10,000 calories a day when running.

“We have the best veterinarians in the world, and they do lots of research on the diet of a sled dog,” Land said.

Land said much of what the Iditarod veterinarians have learned has changed the modern diet for all dogs.

“In Montana, my dogs are fed a high protein diet, mostly meat from hunters and trappers such as elk, antelope, deer, bu alo, moose, beaver, sh, pork, chicken, and beef,” she said.

Dogs can get injured or tired dur-