Mushers' Web sites and blogs

Following Alaskan sled dog mushers can involve tremendous planning and expenditures, or it can be as simple as logging onto your favorite musher's blog or Web site. Many mushers have state-of-the-art sites, with video clips, interviews, photo galleries, weblogs and more, and one of the best is the SP Kennel Dog Log. Web guru MacGellan manages the site, but he's also a handler, tracking the teams from race to race and providing a close-up look at what it takes to compete and win in this often grueling sport. SP Kennel -- the SP is short for Skunk's Place -- is the home of champion mushers Aliy Zirkle and Allen Moore of Two Rivers, and their focus is on excellent health, nutrition, training and specialized care for sled dogs.

Martin Buser's Happy Trails Kennel was the location of Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" episode which aired on April 12, 2009. Martin has an incredible mushing record, with four Iditarod championships, and he has a notable penchant for innovation, well-known for the giant hamster-wheel-like exercise wheels his dogs run on. Martin is currently reconstructing the treadmill left behind when the Alaska Zoo's Maggie the elephant left for warmer climes. Frequent updates on his blog keep folks apprised of his current races, as with his second place finish this last weekend at the Kuskokwim 300.

Jeff King's Husky Homestead blog offers a fun and informal look at the top-of-his-game musher's day-to-day. Also a four-time Iditarod champion, Jeff won the Copper Basin 300 recently, commenting at his site, "What a great weekend to start the race season! Good snow, lots of friendly competitive mushers, well-trained teams, and 300 miles of some of the most beautiful trail in the world." Jeff then went on to detail "a new twist" in his race strategy which he feels helped secure his win. It's interesting and enlightening reading, offering a champ's-eye-view of what it takes to win a major mid-distance race.

Lance Mackey's Comeback Kennel is currently spotlighting his forthcoming book: "Lance Mackey made mushing history in 2007 when he won both the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest, and then just a few weeks later, ran and won the 1,100-mile Iditarod." Lance won both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod again in 2008, and he's the current reigning Iditarod champion -- he didn't race last year's Yukon Quest -- but he's entered in both races again this year; definitely a musher to watch!

Lance's Web site is maintained by retired musher Theresa Daily, who tracks the races and mushers at her own Go Mush racing news site, as well as maintaining the sites of other top mushers such as Dee Dee Jonrowe and the Iditarod's official artist since 1979, Jon Van Zyle.

Other mushing news

Kotzebue Musher John Baker won the Kuskokwim 300 last weekend. The race, which runs over the frozen Kuskokwim River from Bethel to Napiamute and back, saw severe wind chill conditions and glare ice this year. Congratulations to John Baker, as well as to second place finisher Martin Buser and third place winner Lance Mackey.