'Toughest Race On Earth'

Discovery Channel Presents

'Toughest Race On Earth'

Premiering on Wednesday 4 February 2009 at 9.30pm, the 6-Part Series follows Mushers and their sled dog teams across 1,150 miles of unforgiving Alaskan wilderness as they take on Mother Nature - and each other - in The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Through dense forests, over mountain ranges and across frozen rivers and isolated tundra in the wilds of Alaska – Discovery Channel was there to chronicle one of the most demanding competitions in the world though the eyes of the men and women who dared to take on the monumental challenge.

The gruelling Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race competition from Anchorage to Nome puts the teams through the ultimate test of human and animal teamwork and endurance. Mushers prepare all year to ready not only themselves but also their team of 16 sled dogs – elite athletes in their own right. It is said that no animal on earth covers as much ground as fast as an Iditarod sled dog. But the harsh environment and extreme concentration can take its toll on the teams, no matter how hard they may have trained. Of the 96 dog mushers who started the 2008 Iditarod competition, only 78 completed the race.

During TOUGHEST RACE ON EARTH: IDITAROD, Discovery Channel follows seven mushers and their dog teams – both race rookies and race legends. Some are hoping to win while others are just hoping to finish. To scratch – or drop out of the competition – would be devastating for any musher who has put everything on the line for a chance to compete, including personal finances.

The Iditarod Trail is steeped in history. It was originally used as a mail and supply route from the coastal towns of Seward and Knik to the interior mining camps and eventually all the way to Nome. Mail and supplies went in and gold came out – all by dog sleds. Mushers became legends. In 1925, part of the trail became a life-saving highway. Mushers and their dog teams were called upon to bring serum to epidemic-stricken Nome and save the town from diphtheria that had overtaken it. The Iditarod is a commemoration of those brave and legendary mushers and their faithful dogs.

Mushers featured in TOUGHEST RACE ON EARTH: IDITAROD include: Four-time Iditarod winner and record-holder Martin Buser, Iditarod rookie Rick Holt, pioneering musher and breast cancer survivor DeeDee Jonrowe, “Winningest Musher in the World” Jeff King, two-time racer and diabetic Bruce Linton, two-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey, and race rookie Darin Nelson.

TOUGHEST RACE ON EARTH: IDITAROD is produced for Discovery Channel by Original Productions. Thom Beers and Phillip Segal are executive producers and Jeff Conroy is co-executive producer. For Discovery Channel, Paul Gasek and Tim Pastore are executive producers.

Discovery Channel, SKY Digital Channel 70

MUSHER GUIDE

Martin Buser

Age: 50

Number of Iditarod races competed in: 25

Number of Iditarod wins: 4

Fact: Martin, who named his son Rohn after an Iditarod checkpoint, holds the record for the fastest Iditarod race in history (8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 2 seconds in 2002) Quote: “I eat beans and rice while my dogs eat steak and eggs.”

Rick Holt

Age: 39

Number of Iditarod races competed in: 1

Number of Iditarod wins: 0

Fact: Two years ago, rookie Rick quit his job and lived in a camping tent with wife for two months so he could prepare to compete in the Iditarod race.
Quote: “It‘s [sled dog racing] about having a dream to do
something, making a plan to do it and making it happen.”

DeeDee Jonrowe

Age: 55

Number of Iditarod races competed in: 27

Number of Iditarod wins: 0

Fact: A pioneering woman musher, DeeDee was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002. Three weeks after completing chemotherapy, she competed in the Iditarod, placing 18th.

Quote: On dog sled racing: "I've had back surgery, frozen my shoulder, broken my hand…I think I've had every single cold-related injury. I haven't had any amputations, but I have had severe frostbite on my fingers, cheeks and nose. I even frostbit my corneas some years ago."

Jeff King

Age: 53

Number of Iditarod races competed in before 2008: 19

Number of Iditarod wins: 4

Fact: Jeff is recognized as the “Winningest Musher in the World” and during the past 20 years has logged more than 100,000 miles on a dog sled.
Quote: “I take tremendous pride in being the guy they
[mushers] wish they could be.”

Bruce Linton

Age: 46

Number of Iditarod races competed in: 2

Number of Iditarod wins: 0

Fact: Bruce was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 30 and uses an electronic pump on the trail that puts insulin directly into his bloodstream.

Quote: “I tell diabetic kids that if I can run a dog sled across the state of Alaska for 1,150 miles, then they can get off the couch and do anything a non-diabetic can do.”

Lance Mackey

Age: 38

Number of Iditarod races competed in: 7

Number of Iditarod wins: 2

Fact: Lance, his father and brother are all Iditarod champions – and all won wearing bib #13, and all on their sixth race attempt.

Quote: “My…attitude might not be the most professional in people’s opinion, but so be it. It’s working for me.”

Darin Nelson

Age: 35

Number of Iditarod races competed in: 1

Number of Iditarod wins: 0

Fact: Darin lives 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle and built his own dog sled just as his ancestors have done for centuries. Quote: “This [dog sled racing] is something that’s in my blood that has been passed down.”

IDITAROD RACE FACTS

History of the Iditarod Trail: In the early 1920's, settlers went to Alaska following a gold strike. In the winter, the Iditarod trail became their major “thoroughfare” through the state. Mail was carried and supplies were transported along the route. Priests, ministers and judges traveled between villages via dog team.

In early 1925 a diphtheria epidemic threatened isolated, icebound Nome. The nearest serum was in Anchorage. A Pony Express-type relay of dog teams was quickly organized. The serum was loaded on the newly completed Alaska Railroad and rushed to Nenana, where the first musher took it westward down the frozen Tanana River to the Yukon. Every village along the route offered its best team and driver for its leg to speed the serum toward Nome. The serum arrived in time to prevent the epidemic and save hundreds of lives. The 20 mushers had covered almost 700 miles in little more than 127 hours (about six days) in temperatures that rarely rose above 40° below zero and winds sometimes strong enough to blow over dogs and sleds. The serum run received worldwide press coverage and the mushers received special gold medals. A statue of Balto, the heroic lead dog, was erected a year later in New York’s Central Park and is still there today.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is from Anchorage to Nome, stretching out more than 1,150 miles across harsh, remote, unforgiving Alaskan wilderness.

The first Iditarod race to Nome started March 3, 1973.

There are 26 checkpoints along the northern race route and 27 checkpoints along the southern route.

Each musher starts the race with 16 dogs, which means over 1,000 dogs leave Anchorage for Nome.

In the 2008 race, 96 dog sled teams started the race and 78 teams finished, earning a coveted Iditarod belt buckle.

The grand prize for the 2008 winner: USD$69,000 and a pickup truck.

Musher Martin Buser holds the record for fastest race time, set in 2002: 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 2 seconds.

Carl Huntington won the 1974 race with the slowest winning time, 20 days, 15 hours, two minutes and seven seconds.

The closest finish was in 1978. Dick Mackey finished one second ahead of Rick Swenson. Mackey’s time was 14 days, 18 hours, 52 minutes and 24 seconds. The winner was decided by the nose of the lead dog across the finish line.

A Red Lantern is awarded to the last musher to finish. The longest time for a Red Lantern was 32 days, 15 hours, nine minutes and one second by John Schultz in 1973. The quickest Red Lantern musher was David Straub with a time of 14 days, 5 hours, 38 minutes and 12 seconds.

Rick Swenson is the only five-time winner of "The Last Great Race," having won in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1991. He is the only person to win the Iditarod in three different decades, a record that will probably never be broken.

Rick Mackey won the race in 1983 to become the first son of an Iditarod champion to match his father’s accomplishment. Lance Mackey won in 2007 to become the second son of an Iditarod champion. To further set a record, father and both sons were wearing bib number 13 when they crossed the finish line in first position, and all three won in their sixth Iditarod.

ENDS

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