12th Annual Urban Iditarod takes place this Saturday, March 4th in the streets of San Francisco. The “dogs” and their “sleds” will meet up at 12 noon and mushing will begin promptly at 1pm. Here’s more info on registration.
In the Alaskan Iditarod, more than sixty dog sled teams race across the frozen tundra from Anchorage to Nome. In our urban version, teams of “dogs” lead by a musher will pull their sleds (shopping carts) through some of San Francisco’s most touristed areas. These teams of barking humans must negotiate through the unrelenting and unforgiving dangers of San Francisco’s urban frontier. As an incentive to run, dogs and mushers alike will have several rest stops to replenish lost fluids and discuss tales of mayhem. The course is over three miles, so dogs and mushers alike need to be ready and able to run their tails off.
Joe Reifer shot some great photos at last year’s Urban Iditarod 2005.
UPDATE: Here are some photos from Urban Iditarod 2006.
Related Posts:
- San Francisco Urban Iditarod 09, Reopened to Public
- San Francisco Urban Iditarod 2009 Photos
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
If you don’t come, I’ll take it as a personal affront to my manliness
Although people may have fun in the Urban Iditarod, they should know that the Alaskan Iditarod is not fun for the dogs. This race has a long, well-documented history of dog deaths, illnesses and injuries.
Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website http://www.helpsleddogs.org and be sure to read the quotes on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm . All the material on the site is true and verifiable.
Iditarod dogs are simply not the invincible animals race officials portray. Here’s a short list of what happens to the dogs during the race: death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding ulcers, broken bones, pneumonia, torn muscles and tendons, diarrhea, vomiting, hypothermia, fur loss, broken teeth, viral diseases, torn footpads, ruptured discs, sprains, anemia and lung damage.
How do sick animals run the 1,100 miles across frozen tundra and through icy waters? Veterinarians give them massive doses of antibiotics to keep them going. Anemia tires the dogs but mushers force them to run mile after grueling mile.
At least 126 dogs have died in the Iditarod. No one knows how many dogs die after this tortuous ordeal or during training.
On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not make it across the finish line. According to a report published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, of those who do cross, 81 percent have lung damage. A report published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that 61 percent of the dogs who finish the Iditarod have ulcers versus zero percent pre-race.
Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40 years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:
“They’ve had the hell beaten out of them.” “You don’t just whisper into their ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.’ They understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the same way elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And you know what? They are all lying.” -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno’s column.
Mushers believe in killing unwanted dogs, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived their usefulness, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to death. “Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don’t pull are dragged to death in harnesses…..” wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska’s Bush Blade Newspaper (March, 2000).
Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, “He [Colonel Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or dragging them to their death.”
The Iditarod is dog torture.
Margery Glickman
Sled Dog Action Coalition
WOW!! Ms. Glickman’s post full of half-truths and false information! The actual Iditarod and the urban Iditarod are common sporting events called marathons. This year’s urban Iditarod sounded like it was fun! Hope everyone had a safe and fun time!
Photos from the 2006 Urban Iditarod are now available here:
http://www.joereifer.com/ui06/
as someone who has seen the iditarod in person, I’ve been there at the start of the race, some checkpoints, and at the finish line I can guarentee that Margery Glickman is full of half-truths and false information, just as Dennis D mentioned. She doesn’t mention the love and care that many mushers have for their dogs. I’ve seen it with my own eyes…she is from flordia.
Three dogs have died so far in 2006. Very simply, they wouldn’t have died otherwise – I likewise give accolades to the nushers for their love and care but the deaths will ALWAYS occur as a diret result of overexertion from the race. It’s that simple.
WOW!! Ms. Glickman’s post full of half-truths and false information! The actual Iditarod and the urban Iditarod are common sporting events called marathons. This year’s urban Iditarod sounded like it was fun! Hope everyone had a safe and fun time!
Alpha Dog, if you’re out there, i have a question for you. This is the lil doggie that lost his keys in the grass 3 years ago and you found them and posted it on the site. Please contact me, or if you are friends with the ol Alpha Dog, tell him I need to speak to him.
THANKS!
craigslistsurfer@yahoo.com
She’s a quack and doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
I have family living in Alaska and have seen the Iditarod many times. Glickman is telling the truth about the Iditarod. I applaud her for creating the Sled Dog Action Coalition and putting up the website http://www.helpsleddogs.org
Did you know that several Alaska citizens reported that Iditarod musher Ramy Brooks beat, kicked and slugged his dogs during the 2008 Iditarod? They reported that he beat his dogs with a ski pole and a chain. Brooks said he beat his dogs with a trail marker. The Iditarod discounted the citizen reports and only punished Ramy Brooks for what he admitted doing. It is inexcusable that they ignored the reports from people who saw what happened. This is another example of the Iditarod failure to care about the dogs.