Musher overhauls son’s dog race best
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — Mitch Seavey became the oldest and fastest musher to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, in year marred by an abnormally high number of dog deaths.
After bringing in his dog team off the Bering Sea ice and under the famed burled arch on Front Street in Nome Tuesday, the 57-year-old winner greeted each of his dogs and thanked them with a frozen snack. He later posed with his two lead dogs, Pilot and Crisp.
“They get frustrated when they go too slow, so I just let them roll, which was scary because I’ve never gone that fast, that far ever, but that’ s what they wanted to do,” he said.
Seavey set a time record of 8 days, 3 hours, 40 minutes and 13 seconds, the Iditarod said. That shaved several hours off the record his son set last year of 8 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes and 16 seconds.
Seavey also broke his own record for being the oldest musher set four years ago.
However, his push for victory was tempered on Tuesday with news of the fourth death of a dog associated with the Iditarod among the 2,000 or so that started the race on March 6.
While not all deaths were on the trail, the total matches the entire number of dog deaths for the years 2012-2016 and prompted a call from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to permanently end the Iditarod.
A spokesman for the I di ta rod Trail Committee said more than 40 veterinarians volunteer during the race and dogs are evaluated at each checkpoint.
Two dogs died on the trail. Another was hit by a car and one dog likely died of hyperthermia.
PETA said there have been at least 28 dog deaths since 2004, exacerbated by making them run 100 miles a day in treacherous conditions.
Iditarod Chief Operating Officer Chas St. George could not immediately provide a number of dog deaths since the race first started in 1973.
4 dogs died during this year’s event, which has led to calls for a ban from animal rights groups.