Farewell Invitation

Lance Mackey will try to rewrite the record books in March next on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race by becoming the first person to win the race five times in a row.

Mackey has made this event belonged to him, despite many personal sacrifices: he lost a finger and a tooth fell to one arm. The skin on half of his face is marked and stretched to the limit. It can not produce one ounce of saliva. Thank you to the race in the sub-zero temperatures for days, ears, toes and fingers remaining permanently frozen. His back is tender, clicks his right hip, his right leg cramps.

And remember - it is also conquered throat cancer.

The race Iditarod sled dog is not for the faint hearted. It submits its competitors at a pretty incredible cocktail of cold and sleep deprivation. The mushers racing at all hours in the dark extended in March. There are parts of the land where the snow blocks the trail, and others where there is no snow at all, like windswept Farewell Burn, a stretch of barren tundra. They race on patches of frozen Bering Sea and pray that the ice does not crack. They hallucinate, hear things, begins to feel like a mixture of dogs and sweat. The best mushers arrived at nine or ten days.

And the other big race Iditarod?

This is the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a race with two distances. Is 350 miles or 1100 miles to McGrath Nome. This year, the route follows the southern route to Nome. This is certainly the world's longest winter ultra-marathon race. A race across the frozen expanse of Alaska. A race can be done on foot, by bike or on skis.

February / March 2011 expecting a good field of competitors that include a difficult group of the course hardened veterans and a strong field of rookies. The field is still limited to 50 participants.

The race to Nome is a very serious and to qualify for that you must have completed the 350 mile race to McGrath.

Riders will be responsible for sending their own cuts of provisions in the villages beyond McGrath, race organizers will however provide a drop of food, fuel and batteries between Ophir and Iditarod Shageluk. Riders are responsible to call the villages beyond McGrath so that organizers can keep the site updated with every advance of individuals.

A long time ago uninhabited stretches of track on the way to Nome and took the riders over veterans for several days in poor conditions to cover such long stretches between refueling points. It is absolutely imperative that runners are able to be self-sufficient for several days when they leave for Nome McGrath. Rookies are advised to contact the organizers or other veteran runners have an idea of ae‹ae‹how much food and fuel, it is wise to do on these long periods.

Since the inaugural year of 2000, only 33 people finished the race in Nome 1100 miles, only three of them were women.

The course record held by Mike Curiak Colorado, United States in an amazing 15 days 1 h 15 min, but it can take up to 40 days to complete ...

Certainly not for the faint hearted.

Two races ultra extreme to keep an eye on.