Ramos Tribe Adventures: Ironwill Vs. Iditarod

I think all of us have seen a video or movie portraying the race across Alaska.The dog sled team and the hardships of the trail and the amazing ending where they racer crosses the finish line. Iron Will comes to mind as one of those movies. Hollywood exaggerates the drama and many times makes you hate events. Well living in Galena and helping with 2 Iditarods, I have changed my ideas of the happenings during the Iditarod. Hollywood doesn't do justice to a wonderful challenging race.

Here are some of my thoughts of Ironwill Vs Iditarod.

~Ironwill shows ALL dogs on a dog sled team are what most people know as Siberian Huskies. Big furry strong Huskies. Yeah, that is NOT true. Really the typical sled dogs are small, fast and are know as Alaskan huskies. These dogs are a mix between Siberian Huskies and other dogs that give the dog speed and a small physic. Siberian Huskies are strong dogs and they were used to pull heavy sleds but can not race fast. Most of the sled dogs are no more then 50 lbs. When I see them they actually look almost like puppies. They are small, strong and VERY FAST. Beautiful dogs.

~Ironwill shows mistreated dogs and in reality the Iditarod dogs are some healthy, happy and loved dogs. The mushers treat there dogs better then themselves sometimes and ALWAYS take care of their dogs first. The minute the team arrive at a check point the musher pulls out food, water and bedding for the dogs to rest on. Vets are on hand to check out every dog and make sure they are OK to carry on. If not then the dog is dropped, which means it rests and is flown back to the home of the musher. The mushers never want to hurt their dogs and take very good care of them.

~ Ironwill shows the big scary dude that whips his dogs vs Iditarod where no whips are needed. The dogs are so excited to race and run. The minute the musher starts hooking them up to the sled to head out of a check point the dogs go crazy and jump with excitement. It is very fun to watch the excitement in each dog. They love to run! Yes they get tired but after their rests they are so excited to get up and run again.

~ Ironwill shows the Mean evil Musher that cheats and tries to hurt all the other mushers. All the Iditarod people that I have met are so kind and friendly and are very nice. I got to meet some mushers and they are just normal friendly and adventurous people. They are definitely adventurous. I would get out on the trail and freak out if I was running by myself. They are from all over the world, New Zealand, Germany and all over the United States.

So now that I have bored you with my own thoughts of how Hollywood shows the Greatest Race on Earth, I will show you some fun pictures of this years race. This year Keith and I volunteered to help with dogs, providing food and being available when needed. We had a great time. I got to meet a lot of people and had a great time. This race is the greatest race on earth and one of the most challenging races. It was fantastic. We are still waiting to hear who wins when they reach Nome Alaska. Here are some of the pictures we took during the time we were at the check point here in Galena.