Iditapod: One paw in front of the other

KatieJo Deeter’s leaders appear to be in good spirits in the race chute in Willow for the official start of the 51st Iditatrod. (Elyssa Loughlin/Alaska Public Media)

Iditarod sled dog teams are into the first 200 miles of trail, after the race clock started ticking Sunday. Mushers are pacing their dogs and there’s a lot of leapfrogging going on out there, as they follow their own run-rest schedules. In this episode, we have a look at the competitiveness of the small field, and we have our Dog of the Day — a big boy named Boomer — as well as a listener question about day jobs, for those who do not list their fulltime occupation as “dog musher.”

RELATED: This year’s Iditarod field is the smallest in history. Could a bigger prize and more races boost interest?

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For more Iditarod coverage visit alaskapublic.org/Iditarod and click here to subscribe to our free Iditarod newsletter, sent daily during the race. Also, listen to our prior episodes of the Iditapod at alaskapublic.org/Iditapod or wherever you get your podcasts.

Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Casey here

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