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The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is one of the most treacherous athletic competitions on the planet, and that reality was highlighted by a moose attack that sparked a comedy of errors after the annual showdown kicked off in Alaska this week.
It’s been more than 50 years since the inaugural running of the race commonly referred to as “The Iditarod” kicked off in Alaska, a gathering that saw dozens of participants (known as “mushers”) navigate their sled of dogs through the 1,049-mile route that largely cuts through the remote wilderness between Anchorage and Nome.
Anyone who signs up for The Iditarod (which commences at the start of March and takes over a full week to complete) knows they’re signing up for a challenge. Mushers need to take care of themselves as well as a team of between 12 and 16 dogs while braving frigid temperatures, inclement winter weather, and Alaska’s flora and fauna.
That includes the moose that have impacted the race on multiple occasions.
In 1985, a musher named Susan Butcher was leading the race when she used an ax to attempt to fend off one of the massive animals that killed two of her dogs and left 13 others injured, and several of Bridgett Watkins’ canines suffered casualties when they were attacked while training ahead of The Iditatord in 2016.
Now, we can add another incident to that list courtesy of what unfolded shortly after The Iditarod officially kicked off in the remote town of Willow on Sunday.
According to The Associated Press, veteran musher Dallas Seavey—a five-time winner who set the course record in 2021—informed race officials that he’d used the handgun on his sled to shoot and kill an aggressive moose he encountered on the trail in the middle of the night 14 miles away from the checkpoint in Skwentna when he arrived there on Monday morning.
It’s believed another musher had already encountered the moose in question, as they’d told officials they’d had a close call after their sled was entangled with the unexpected threat but had managed to escape unscathed. Seavey, on the other hand, suffered a big setback due to what unfolded, as race rules mandate anyone who kills an animal in self-defense must stop to gut and dress it before they’re allowed to continue.
Another musher, Paige Drobny, ended up literally hitting a road bump courtesy of the same moose, as she said she and her dogs ran over the carcass with their sled after coming across the remains in the middle of the trail (although it doesn’t sound like it was a major issue).
It does appear Seavey was able to bounce back after the ordeal, as he’s sitting in fourth place in the field of 38 as of this writing.