Known as the toughest dog sled race that exists , the Iditarod attracted the attention, back in the 70s, of one of the most famous naturalists and environmental promoters that our country has known: Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente.
At that time, Rodríguez de la Fuente was well known for his documentary series El hombre y la tierra , which had been broadcast on Spanish Television since 1974 and with which he sneaked into Spanish homes transmitting his love for nature and the defense of all species . Remember that in Spain, eagles, vultures and lynxes were considered vermin. Thanks to Felix, they began to be seen in a different way and faced creatures hitherto unknown.
Returning to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race , Rodríguez de la Fuente and his team traveled to Alaska to document the race. The man and the earth would follow her to show the world her hardness. In those they were when on March 14, 1980, just the day that Felix was 52 years old , the plane in which he, Teodoro Roa, Alberto Mariano Huéscar and the pilot Warren Dobson flew, crashed and all its occupants died. The paradox of the matter is that the team was with two planes, one of which was leaking oil, nothing serious, but reason enough for Felix not to want to ride in it. It turned out that this plane landed without any problem. The crashed plane crashed in Shaktoolik , a small Eskimo town, near the Bering Sea
“The last great race”
Nicknamed “The Last Great Race” by organizers, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska began in 1973 and takes place each year on the road between Anchorage and Nome . It is a race of almost 1000 miles that covers some of the most extreme terrain on Earth and contested by teams made up of a musher (person who guides the sled) and approximately 16 dogs that pull.
As recounted on the race’s official website, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is a reconstruction of the loading route to Nome and commemorates the role sled dogs played in the settlement of Alaska . Mushers travel from one checkpoint to another as cargo mushers did eighty years ago, albeit in considerably less time.
Historically dog teams have been used in Alaska for local transportation and everyday work , especially in Eskimo villages. Mushers and their teams played important but little-remembered roles in World War II, notably helping famous Eskimo explorers patrol the vast wilderness of western Alaska.
Although the use of the plane in the late 1920s marked the beginning of the end for dogsleds as a means of transport as mail was being delivered in this way, after the war, short and medium distance cargo teams continued being common in many areas of Alaska. However, during the 1960s, the arrival of the first snowmobiles in the area led to the massive abandonment of dog teams and the loss of much of the mushing tradition.
In 1964 the Wasilla-Knik Centennial Committee was formed to examine the historical events that occurred in Alaska, specifically in the Mananuska-Susitna Valley, during the past century. Dorothy Page, chair of this committee, considered doing a sled dog race on the historic Iditarod Trail .
This road became famous for being the one used by the settlers to go to the areas where there was gold in what is known as the gold rush . It soon became Alaska’s main thoroughfare , the road used by people to get from one place to another and to transport supplies. In winter it was only possible to travel it uploaded in a sled pulled by dogs.
Joe Redington was Dorothy Page’s first ally. Since the mid-1950s Joe and his wife Vi had deep historical interests in the Iditarod Trail and believed that this centuries-old race would help them preserve the historic Gold Rush and Mail Route. They wanted the race to be nationally recognized.
Dorothy and the Redingtons got to work. Dorothy devoted herself body and soul to research as a historian and Joe Redington worked non-stop to organize a new sled dog race.
With the help of volunteers (an aspect that would forever mark this race) the first part of the trail was cleared, including nine miles of the Iditarod Trail. The two-series, 56-mile Centennial race between Knik and Big Lake was held in 1967 and 1969 but interest in the race was soon lost.
Joe Redington did not give up, in fact, he set out to make the Iditarod a long-distance race. The United States Army helped clear parts of the road and with the support of the Nome Kennel Club (the oldest in Alaska, founded in 1907), the race came to Nome for the first time. In 1973 the first edition of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race was held, which was won by Dick Wilmarth, taking almost three weeks to reach Nome.
Since then, the race has continued to be celebrated year after year. The Iditarod has become so well known that the best mushers now receive thousands of dollars a year from sponsors and in many rural areas where dogsleds had disappeared displaced by snowmobiles, they have reappeared.
Arctic Challenge
With the aim of honoring the figure of Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, the VI edition of “Desafío Ártico”, organized by MaratónDog and Tíanimal and sponsored by Royal Canin, changes its scenery from Greenland to Alaska to follow the same route as the naturalist in what was his last adventure.
The expedition is led by Manuel Calvo and will travel more than 150 kilometers with two sled dogs from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik (both in Alaska) for ten days. Calvo hopes to reach Shaktoolik on April 14, the date of the fatal accident. The adventure will end in the Burgos town of Poza de la Sal, where Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente was born.
In addition to remembering both the figure of Felix and the values he spread throughout his life, the expedition seeks to promote sport, raise awareness about climate change and spread the history and culture of the dog.
