Shoot a moose. Overcome a time penalty. Move out of 10th place to first. After a 1,000-mile slog across Alaska’s wilderness, Dallas Seavey won a record-breaking sixth Iditarod on March 12.
Seavey jumped off his sled and ran with his dogs, pumping his fists as he neared the finish line. He hugged each of his resilient pups after the win.
Seavey says his tail-wagging crew isn’t made up of super athletes, but “they worked together the whole way down the trail.”
Soon after the race started, a moose “became entangled” with Seavey’s dog team. He shot the beast with a handgun. Race rules require any big game animal killed in defense of life or property to be gutted before the musher moves on.
Seavey told officials he gutted the moose the best he could. But he spent only 10 minutes on the task. He received a two-hour penalty as a result.
The moose critically injured one of Seavey’s dogs, Faloo, in the encounter. Faloo had two surgeries. Veterinarians expect the dog to recover.
The moose meat was salvaged and distributed to people for food.
The 37-year-old Seavey had a winning time of nine days, two hours, 16 minutes, and eight seconds. The record fastest Iditarod time is held by his father, Mitch Seavey. Mitch finished the race in 2017 in eight days, three hours, 40 minutes, and 13 seconds.
The Seavey family has deep roots in the event. Mitch Seavey’s father, Dan Seavey, helped organize and competed in the first Iditarod in 1973. Mitch is a three-time champion. Dallas was 25 when he won his first Iditarod in 2012. He was the youngest champion in the race’s history. Now he is the only musher to win six times.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is held each March. Mushers with teams of 12 to 16 dogs travel from Anchorage to Nome. The landscape includes tundra, forests, mountain passes, rivers, and sea ice. The race honors the memory of a famed dog sled relay that delivered diphtheria serum to Nome, Alaska, in 1925.
“This one was supposed to be hard,” Seavey told the crowd after his record win. “It had to be special; it had to be more than just a normal Iditarod. And for me, it was.”
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. — Hebrews 12:1-2
