Karen Land, columnist, public speaker and Iditarod dog musher, talked about her experiences in a presentation Feb. 17 at the college library.

Land has competed in the Iditarod race three times, in 2002, 2003, and 2004. These days, she mainly travels to libraries and schools with Borage, her 14-year-old retired Alaskan Husky.

The two made quite a team. Land presented and gabbed about her experiences in the Iditarod while Borage visited with the audience, and looking for something to eat, following guests to the snack table with interest.

Dogs preferred in the Iditarod are quite different from stereotypes of mushing dogs, Land said. Instead of the blue-eyed, pointy-eared fuzzy dogs seen in movies, they tend to be small, floppy-eared, brown-eyed and with just a thin coat. The thin coats stem from the need to keep the dogs cool, not warm. Dog teams run so hard, they are far more likely to get heat exhaustion than hypothermia.
Karen’s training regimen for her dogs is simply strapping them to a four-wheeler and blazing down dirt trails. The force of these dogs is astonishing, Land told her audience.

“I’ve seen anything from fences to car bumpers get ripped off (when they get snagged).”

The Iditarod dog race, going from Anchorage to Nome on a 1,150 mile trail, is sometimes called “The Last Great Race on Earth.” Each contestant must train and bring 12-16 dogs for the extremely dangerous run, with chaotic weather and a lot of rough country. Moose attacks are not uncommon, and for this reason most mushers carry powerful firearms.

Land keeps a small kennel compared to other mushers, only 60. She trains them at her home in Martinsdale, Mont.