Running with Champions: A Midlife Journey on the Iditarod Trail


By Tanya Turgeon

Running with Champions: A Midlife Journey on the Iditarod Trail
by Lisa Frederic

Review by Tanya Turgeon

Alaska Northwest Books, 2006

224 pages

$14.95

One of the most challenging races to be shared by man or woman and dogs is currently in full swing. It is called the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. From Anchorage to Nome, covering over 1100 miles of Alaskan wilderness, these strong souls brave frigid temperatures, brutal snow storms, and rough terrain in a relatively young tradition began in 1973."Running with Champions," an autobiographical account by Lisa Frederic, does an amazing job chronicling how a forty year old woman who knows nothing about mushing (the technical term for dog sledding) goes from volunteering at the infamous race to working at Iditarod Champion Jeff King's kennel to finally participating herself. Considering it's winter in Alaska, Frederic hardly harps on the intense cold, instead suffering through collisions with trees, getting lost, and having two dogs decide the middle of a glacier is an idyllic spot to consummate a relationship (which apparently takes about half an hour).

This book sheds a whole new light on these dogs of the North, who are a blend of husky, hound, and other breeds. The bond between dogs and musher is portrayed as an intense two-way street. Frederic is responsible for feeding, massaging, changing booties, supplying bedding and most importantly keeping the dogs safe while providing them with a good experience; a responsibility that weighs on her during the darker isolated sections of the trail. At the other end of the tow line, her lead dog Salem steers Frederic out of trouble, demonstrating strength and insight that make it no surprise he goes on to become an award-winning member of Jeff King's team.

Near the end of her fourteen day Iditarod experience Frederick notes, "There are significant moments you are certain will make your top-ten list as you look back on your life--weddings, the
births of babies, certain holiday meals--and those last moments, as I approached the coast, running the Iditarod with a team of dogs I loved and felt an unbreakable bond to, I knew would
be hard to surpass."

If you love this book and want to see real working sled dogs in person, Jeff King and his family have generously opened their kennel to the public in Denali, Alaska. I can say first hand it is well
worth the trip.

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