Women who run with the dogs!.

The race is now about seventy two hours in and a bit over a third of the distance has been covered by the fifteen or twenty leading teams. The rest proceed farther back. It is cold and there is snow, plenty of it from what I am seeing and hearing. That's good. Other than a few stretches of deep but loose snow, the trail has been hard and fast, well beaten in by snow machines etc.

The shots here are of Aliy approaching the Ruby checkpoint (above) and Jessie along the same route. (below). Not mine of course but I am seeking permission to use these and similar in my book since I know I will not be out there to get these kinds of pictures. Jeff Schultz, Sebastian Schnuelle and others have that covered!

There were seventy eight starters this year and of that number twenty six or exactly one third are women! I find this awesome and amazing and I am pretty sure the number is getting higher every year by a percentage or two. Three of them are shaping up as serious contenders in this year's race. Aliy Zirkle, of course, and her Yukon nemesis but also friend, Michelle Phillips--they kind of trade firsts in the Yukon Quest 300 lately. Then there is Jessie Royer, a Montana cowboy girl*(see note below)  who started out her dog sledding mentored by fellow Montanan Doug Swingley, the first non-Alaskan to win the Iditarod who somewhat dominated things for awhile back in the 1980s. Jessie has now run the Iditarod several times and usually finishes in the top ten. I am pretty sure she will do it again barring an unforeseen accident or issue. She could win; that is not out of the question at all. There is a lot of luck as well as savvy, daring and toughness involved.

So far Aliy is still running all sixteen dogs. I expect she will be dropping one or more along the way, perhaps before long, but that's a good tribute to the health and strength of her team, many of which ran the Yukon Quest thousand miler just a month ago. I believe Michelle has her full team so far as well. A number of mushers are now down to fourteen or fewer. You have to have six to legally finish but most say eight is the minimum to seriously race.

All of this evidence really reinforces my desire to tell the story of these fantastic women and set them up as the incredible heroes they really are. They are stellar examples for our 'ordinary' young women to emulate, whatever endeavor they choose to make their mark in. Dream it, dare it, do it!!! Living proof on those sled runners that anything is possible with the will and unflagging determination to make it happen. It started with Mary Shields and Lolly Medley back in 1974 and then Libby and Susan busted through the ice ceiling in a big way in the mid and late 1980s. It's time we had some more ladies first under the burled arch in Nome! But as I have said, anyone who completes the race is a winner; I don't care if they are first or get the tail-ender's red lantern award. They did it and they won, regardless!

* To explain my use of the term "cowboy girl" without interrupting the thought line of the essay here. I use it very aware that "cowgirl" may be more familiar but to me cowgirls wear split skirts and cute hats like Dale Evans did and are more of an adjunct to the cowboys than on an equal footing. Cowboy girls, on the other hand, are like Annie Oakley or the Greenough sisters who rode broncs and bulls in the early 1900s. They can ride, rope, shoot, cuss or whatever is needed just as well as the cowboys do and maybe better than some. I say I was not a cowgirl but a cowboy girl and Jessie Royer certainly is the same. She competes in mounted shooting events (firing a hand gun accurately from the back of a running horse!) and guides hunters and trail rides etc. She is a tough lady for sure and one of my heroes. She will have a chapter in that book, I guarantee!