'Yukon Quest' by Lew Freedman

Lew Freedman's name is familiar to most Iditarod fans, as he's authored almost an entire shelf full of books on some of sled dog racing's most well-known mushers. He's written or co-authored books on Joe Redington Sr. ("Father of the Iditarod"), Dick Mackey ("One Second to Glory"), George Attla ("Spirit of the Wind"), and DeeDee Jonrowe ("Iditarod Dreams"), and he's shared tales of the trail from dozens of their colleagues in collections such as "Iditarod Classics," "More Iditarod Classics," and "Iditarod Silver," all published by Epicenter Press.

Now Freedman, a former sports editor for the Anchorage Daily News, has turned his attention to Alaska's other epic sled dog race, the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The Quest trail sports fewer checkpoints and longer wilderness runs than the Iditarod, four mountain summits, and the reputation of being "the world's toughest sled dog race." Two-time Yukon Quest Champion and 18-time finisher John Schandelmeier wrote:

"The Yukon Quest was founded on the premise that a dog driver and his team should be a self-sufficient unit; capable of challenging varied terrain and severe weather conditions. The race is a living memorial to those turn-of-the-century miners, trappers, and mail carriers who opened up the country without benefit of snowmobiles, airplanes, or roads. It was their strength and fortitude that blazed the Trail over which most of the Yukon Quest travels."

Freedman's "Yukon Quest: The Story of the World's Toughest Sled Dog Race" (2010, Epicenter Press) focuses on the 2009 running from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, but his storytelling frequently dips into the colorful history of the race and highlights the adventures of the intrepid men and women who've run it over the years. In the opening chapter he briefly introduces some of the top contenders in the 2009 race and then notes, "They all wondered if they could reach the finish line first. Unlike in other sports, where it is common to find that baseball players don't know about their forebears who worked for slender wages, or football players who are ignorant of predecessors who used inferior equipment and played games in empty stadiums, mushers know their history. More than any other sporting figures, dog-mushers recognize that they are part of a continuum. They pay homage to those who came before them and appreciate the volunteers who make their events possible."