Dog Tired - Training for Iditarod Race is exhausting

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Daily Nonpareil

By Brien T. Boyce

PINEDALE, Wyo. - Training for the Iditarod dog sled race isn't just for Matt Anderson's dogs, but himself as well.

Currently, Anderson will run by himself, then will hook his dogs to a four-wheeler in place of a sled for approximately 26-hours-per-week.

For the Shenandoah native, the training will only become more grueling. When winter hits, Anderson's schedule will resemble the following Monday through Friday:

n He'll come home from his daytime job, and likely have to dig his way into his house.

n After digging a path into his house, Anderson will hook his dogs up around 5 p.m., pack up enough gear to spend the night outside, and take off.

n Anderson and his dog team will run for most of the night. They will camp out approximately four hours.

"I'll usually get a couple of hours of sleep then," he said.

n The tired team of dogs and musher will return home around 6 a.m. Anderson then unhooks the dogs, and gets ready for work.

"It's an incredible amount of training," he said. "I don't get much sleep, but my adrenaline is pumping."

Anderson's schedule is the same during the weekend, except he leaves on Friday evening and doesn't usually come home until sometime on Sunday.

Most people think of the durable Siberian Husky when they think about sled dogs. Anderson said he actually uses an Alaskan Husky. While slightly smaller (around 55 pounds, as opposed to 70 pounds or so for its Siberian counterpart), the Alaskan variant has longer legs.

The longer legs help equate into better endurance. Anderson said his dogs can run from 12 to 14-miles-per-hour for up to 60 miles before they need a break.

Also, Alaskan Huskies handle warmer temperatures better than their Siberian counterparts, because it can warm up during parts of the race, Anderson said.

"When it starts warming up, the Alaskan Husky is fine, but the Siberians aren't very happy," he said.

Anderson is currently training two, 12-dog teams. He will take 18 of his best dogs to the Iditarod, which states a musher must finish with at least five dogs.

One might think Anderson trains his dog team to carry an enormous amount of weight, given the amount of food and supplies needed for a journey that can last 10 to 15 days or longer. While huskies are strong animals (one was recorded pulling about 1,000 pounds in the canine-equivalent of a tractor pull), the weight of his sled and equipment normally is about 100 pounds.

This isn't figuring in Anderson's weight, although he normally drops from his off-season weight of 175 pounds down to his college wrestling weight of 157 pounds.

"Lack of sleep will do that to you," he said.

Taking care of two-dozen dogs might seem like a huge responsibility, Anderson said, but it's not as bad as the responsibility mushers like four-time Iditarod champ Doug Swingley have.

"(Swingley) has usually got between 160 and 200 dogs in his kennels," Anderson, who bought his first dogs from Swingley, said.

Most Iditarod mushers who live outside of Alaska come from either Canada, Wyoming, Montana or the upper parts of Wisconsin or Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Like them, Anderson's home in Wyoming is located in conditions similar to what he will face in Alaska.

"My house sits at around 8,000 feet (above sea level), and usually gets buried in about eight feet of snow," he said. "But it's an unbelievable place to train dogs."

Anderson was asked how much it costs to train for the Iditarod. "A lot" was his response.

Typically, the Shenandoah native says, he spends from $12,000 to $15,000 annually to run his kennel. This doesn't include the cost of shipping all his gear up north to compete.

To earn a spot in the Iditarod, Anderson had to compete and perform well in several smaller qualifying races. His mother, Patti Dickerson, said she didn't start getting worried about her son competing until after he told her his experiences during both qualifiers.

"He told me about the blizzards, teams getting lost, temperatures so cold that everyone experienced some degree of frostbite," she said. "I'm much more aware of the dangers now than I was before he started racing."

Anderson doesn't seem fazed by the dangers that await his journey through the frozen wasteland. He is more concerned about finishing.

"I'm a rookie going into this race, and a lot of rookies don't finish," he said.

The ceremonial start will be March 2 in downtown Anchorage. Dickenson will not be able to see her son race, given the terrain of the trail.

"To watch the race, you must have a plane or a snow machine," she said, adding she'd likely follow her son's progress via the Internet.

Anderson is the process of soliciting sponsorships, which is difficult when you're an unproven musher.

"Sponsors tend to look at the veteran mushers who can finish a race, not necessarily a rookie who hasn't run a race yet," he said.

More information on the Iditarod can be found at www.iditarod.com