During one of the wind gusts that almost blew us over on Friday afternoon, DLaker asked me if I had a famous relative who was a dog-sledder. I most certainly did, I replied. Uncle Leonhard was the man who saved the town of Nome Alaska in the 1920's by bring them diphtheria serum via dogsled. It was a relay, but while most drivers did something like 50 miles, Leonhard did 340 or so. He was a hero to Alaskans, and he started up his own sled dog breed, Seppala Siberian Huskies, which is the picture in the upper left corner of the blog. He was so famous he toured the United States for a while, doing exhibition races and introducing people to the sport of sled dog racing.
He even won a silver medal in the 1932 Olympics for sled dog racing, although it was just a demonstration sport. (Although it is pretty cool a Seppala has won an Olympic medal!)
I have been lucky enough to go on a couple dogsled rides, and even at half speed, those dogs can really take you for a ride!
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