The 2016 Iditarod Trail Dog Sled race officially kicked off on March 6 in Alaska. Mushers and their sled dogs are now racing over 1,100 miles from Anchorage to the finish line in Nome, a trip that typically takes anywhere from nine to 12 days, although it’s hard to predict.
Sled dogs will run over 1,000 miles in the Iditarod. Watch what keeps them going.
Lauren Katz is a senior project manager at Vox, focusing on newsroom-wide editorial initiatives as well as podcast engagement strategy.
The journey through the Alaska wilderness is trying for everyone involved. And as Alaska Public Media explains in this great video, sled dogs are not your average pets. They’re super athletes trained to run thousands of miles.
But winning isn’t just about speed. What the dogs eat and how often they eat it also makes a difference. Take a closer look at how the sled dogs keep up their energy:
“As we all know, to have a great athletic performance you need the genetics to meet the condition and you need nutrition,” says Dr. Stuart Nelson, the chief veterinarian of the Iditarod.
In the video, Dr. Nelson explains that sled dogs consume an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 calories per day. What’s the human equivalent? Eating about 30,000 calories per day, or about 50 Big Macs, he said.
(Alaska Public Media)
Go deeper:
- Iditarod.com has a history of the Iditarod Dog Sled Race.
- The
- Alaska Public Media is capturing the race on Instagram.
See More:
Most Popular
- Take a mental break with the newest Vox crossword
- More young women are dying from heart disease — and people are missing these warning signs
- Is “time confetti” ruining parenthood?
- Rubén Gallego on why he defended Eric Swalwell — and why he regrets it now
- The Air Quality Index and how to use it, explained
