Yesterday morning (Friday March 12) brought debilitating events for mushers Aliy Zirkel and Jeff King – and their sled dog teams. Both were repeatedly attacked by a snow machine driver, at different times, roughly 12 miles east of the Checkpoint at Nulato, approximately 580 miles after they started the Iditarod Race. Aliy escaped without personal injury but one of her 14 dogs received a non-life threatening injury. She said it was the “scariest time of her life.” However, to avoid scaring the dogs further, Zirkel maintained her schedule and proceeded to do her normal chores, including heating up snow to water the dogs. She planned to continue the race, focus on the next step and maintain a positive and upbeat attitude for the dogs, who are quick to sense and mimic the emotions of the Musher.

Jeff King, didn’t fare quite as well as Zirkel. One of his dogs, Nash, was hit and immediately killed by the snow machine. Two other dogs, Crosby and Banjo also suffered injuries, as did King himself. King received medical attention at the checkpoint. The dogs were flown to Anchorage for treatment. King prefers not to talk about the encounter, saying that there are extenuating circumstances due to problems that must be addressed by the communities in Alaska. Learn more at King’s Facebook page, Husky Homestead. King is also continuing the race.

As parents we hate to expose our children to tragedies like this if we can avoid it. However, bad things happen. W e can have conversations with our children about the courage, presence of mind and character that both racers exhibited in a time of extreme stress and isolation, when they needed medical attention for themselves and their dogs. My favorite Iditarod website, www.ITCTeacherOnTheTrail.com posted pictures of hand made signs that locals around the Unalakleet checkpoint made for both Zirkle and King. Some examples: “When Life Put You in Tough Situations, Don’t Say Why Me, Say TRY ME. Go Mr. King” “Believe You Can, Your Halfway There, Go Jeff.” “Aliy, Winners Are Not People Who Never Fail, But People Who Never Quit!” “Your Brave & Brilliant and oh-so Resilient Go Aliy.”  We can only imagine how Zirkel and King felt when they arrived in Unalakleet and read those posters of cheer.

In spite of extreme adversity, both mushers are going forward! At the time of this post, Zirkle is in 3^rd place after having been in 2^nd for most of the race. King is in 12^th. What GREAT Role Models for our children! People like this help us teach our children the character values we want to instill in them.

The race may be over tomorrow, the 14^th or the 15^th. If you aren’t following it, catch the Iditarod race Daily Videos at Iditarod.com http://iditarod.com/race/?vid=163341