The Red Lantern Award --2015 Iditarod

I promised you the story of Cindy Abbott. Here it is, told as factually as I can with greatest respect for this lady and her noble effort.

2015 was Cindy Abbott's third try to complete the Iditarod. She has also climbed Mount Everest and engaged in a number of other extreme sports efforts. This is even more significant in view of the fact she has Wegener's Granulomatosis. This is a very rare and potentially debilitating and even fatal autoimmune disease.
It attacks blood vessels and if not treated can lead to organ failure and eventually death. I am sure she is on medication and has the disease controlled as much as it can be, but it still creates some huge challenges to leading a  normal life, much less one of strenuous and extreme activities! Her courage and determination exemplify the traits I honor in the women who "run with the dogs."

She raised the banner for the National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD) atop Mount Everest and had she crossed beneath the Burled Arch in daylight, would have held it aloft there as well. As it was, her arrival happened at about 9:30 pm Alaska time. If she did raise the banner, it was not shown on the live cam of her arrival but she may have since she planned to do so. Cindy got to Nome nearly twelve hours after the next to last racer but that was okay. She made it!! So many were cheering for her and waiting breathlessly for her to succeed, me among them.

That Sunday evening, March 22, the awards banquet for the mushers and their families and friends was just winding down when the announcement came that Cindy approached. Almost to a person, the group poured out of the hall where the event was held and hiked a mile or so to the finish line. The cheers that sounded as Cindy and her team came up the street and into the chute would have done a first place winner justice. I have always said that every single man or woman who makes the entire race with his or her team is A Winner!! In this case that has never been more true. Although the live cam had been shut down after Trent Herbst, the 65th finisher, arrived that morning, they restarted it to document her arrival.

Cindy Abbott, 2015 Red Lantern Winner
(photo from ICT website. )

In both 2013 and 2014, Cindy suffered injuries that made her scratch for her own health as well as the welfare of her team. Thankfully, the third time was the charm.

Here from the ITC website is a photo of her as she extinguished the actual lantern that hangs at the Burled Arch until the last racer crosses the finish line.

Although the main banquet was over, I'm sure she got a good meal and deserved recognition before the event was truly closed. Cindy exemplifies the traits I plan to honor and spotlight in my upcoming book. She has thus won a place in the honor roll of those I will feature in this book! By the way, her dogs looked lively and well-cared for. I'm sure the vets would agree they had been taken good care of for the entire trek.  Hip hip hurrah for Cindy Abbott!