What if Your Teacher Ran the Race?

That would be much cooler than just visiting like Mrs. Rizzuto and I are doing wouldn't it?

Well, we have met and have been spending a lot of time with Angie Taggart, a teacher, who did just that!  Last year she realized a dream and goal she has had for ten years, and she ran the race!  She took a year off of school to train and compete and she made it successfully to Nome!  And she has the first time finisher's belt buckle to prove it! 

Angie

She is back in the classroom this year, but her dogs are running!  Nine of her twelve dogs will be take to Nome by her good friend Jan Steves.




Jan Steves with some of Angie's dogs

 I tell you all about Angie now, because we have been pumping her for information for you lately, so you'll be hearing her name come up again and again!

Here's something we asked her about yesterday - about the moose.  Yes, it seems to be all about the moose this year!

As you know, the moose are potentially a big problem on the trail this year.  Many mushers carry a gun in their sled dog in case a moose attacks their dog team - which moose do pretty frequently.  They view the dogs as their natural enemy - wolves, so they are known to tramp through dog teams.

If a musher has to kill a moose on the trail in order defend themselves or the dogs, what happens next?

Well.... the musher cannot just leave the moose on the trail.  They need to move it off the trail the best they can (which must be hard since they are soooooo heavy) and then they must gut the moose.  Yep.  Gut it.  That will apparently preserve the meat and they report it at the next checkpoint where someone else comes back and picks it up.  Apparently this is always the rule in Alaska.  If you kill an animal (accidentally or intentionally), you have to gut it.  There is then a list of people who will come and get the animal and use it as a food source to help people who need the help.

Here's the interesting Iditarod twist to the law....  no other musher can pass the musher while he or she is taking care of the moose.  They all need to stop and let that musher finish and then have their "spot back."

The moose were an issue at the Junior Iditarod.  They actually had one snow machine lead the way and one bring up the rear just in case.

CNN did a video on Angie and her first race.  You can see the clips here:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/05/03/iditarod.angie.taggart/index.html?iref=allsearch