ANVIK -- The Iditarod Trail shows no respect for age or experience. DeeDee Jonrowe is 57 years old and running her 29th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race this year. Mushers don't come more experienced.

Despite that, she found herself in water trapped beneath her dog sled on overflow ice between the Ophir and Iditarod checkpoints Thursday. Out there, help is far, far away. Jonrowe, a petite cancer survivor, was on her own.

"I was pinned in with a dog (cramped up Smokey Bear) in the sled, and trying to get out from under it,'' she said when she finally reached the Yukon River here. "I had to cut the neckline of the dog in the bag and let him out.''

With Smokey Bear free of the sled, she managed to fight her way out from under, right the sled and get back on down the trail. It was neither fun nor comfortable, although it could have been worse. Temperatures were closer to 20 than 20 below. But her gear and sled still ended up coated with ice. She was stlll trying to get everything dried at this checkpoint, about 100 miles on from Iditarod, where her team stopped for the eight-hour Yukon River rest Friday.

A bruised and battered Jonrowe said the lamb-skin-lined fur parka she started wearing because she couldn't stay warm after chemotherapy treatments ended up soaked after the spill, and then it froze solid. It was among the gear she was thawing and drying in Anvik, but she remained optimistic about the race.

She was 14th into Anvik and remains behind one of the faster teams in the 2011 Iditarod. Most of her dogs are inexperienced, she added. Only three have run Iditarod before, leaving her a little unsure as to what to expect about their performance.

A devout Christian, Jonrowe thanked God for helping her out of the water. She noted she overheard mushers at the Rainy Pass checkpoint talking about the problems she seems to encounter along the trail.

"They knew why I had my faith,'' Jonrowe said, "because I'm always getting in over my head. So, consequently, I became a religious person.''

Having God on your side might be a big Iditarod plus. As defending and four-time champ Lance Mackey from Fairbanks observed, the trail really doesn't care about a musher's experience or skill. Some of the mushers expected to be top contenders this year have already been sent packing after they or their dogs suffered injuries.

"It just goes to show you that anything can happen to the best of the best,'' Mackey said. "The Iditarod doesn't target a particular type of musher. Whether you're a champion or a rookie, it can mess with anyone.''

It's even messing with Mackey a bit this year. He's down to only nine of the 16 dogs with which he left Willow on Sunday, and he's worried he might have to drop Rev. The dog is having problems with harness chafing in the area of his groin. Mackey said veterinarians told him it's because Rev has a "bigger package. I don't at all know how it feels, but I can imagine. I'm sure it's not comfortable. I'm deathly scared he is not going to make it too much past Grayling.''

Mackey is still running with the Iditarod's front bunch, but if he is forced to drop down to eight dogs his chances of a fifth consecutive victory will be about over.

Contact Jill Burke at jill@alaskadispatch.com or Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com