On Saturday, dog mushers from around the world will be competing in the 1,150-mile Iditarod sled dog race. Included in this group are three teams from Colorado.
While most mushers train in Alaska and other places with more snow, these three choose to live here, thousands of miles away from their goal of an Iditarod finish in Nome, Alaska. Training with four-wheelers in warmer weather, their road to Nome is not always an easy one.
Denver Post videographer Anne Herbst has created a three-part video series on the Colorado contestants, looking at the dog-mushing lifestyle, and the challenges and rewards training for and participating in the Iditarod brings.
Tom Thurston and his wife, Tami, always knew they wanted animals. “I was envisioning, like, cows and horses and stuff,” said Tami Thurston. “Now we have 50 dogs.” The couple, along with their daughters, Greta and Leona, run Double T Kennel near Oak Creek. Tom Thurston will be competing in his fourth Iditarod this year.
Lachlan and Linda Clarke are a true team when it comes to preparing for the Iditarod. Together they raise horses and dogs on the Adventure Unlimited ranch near Buena Vista. Lachlan says that he uses some of the same principles in training horses as he does in training dogs. This year’s race will be the eighth Iditarod for the Clarkes.
Bill Pinkham admits he did whatever he wanted for more than 50 years. Then his daughter, Grace Ruby, was born, and everything changed. While he still loves his dogs, he has agreed with his wife, Jodi Pinkham, to make this year’s race his last Iditarod. “It’s a lot, you know — it’s all your time and effort and not to mention the money and Jodi sacrificing,” Bill said. This is Bill’s seventh Iditarod.
Watch for this series at starting Thursday.
The Denver Post
