Our Day Today

At 10:15 we sat in on a talk given by Hugh Nuff. Hugh will be running in the Iditarod this year. He was originally from Chicago. He moved to Alaska to follow his passion. He had $200.00 in his pocket and "lived in the bushes." He learned how to run, care for dogs and be self-sufficient from the local villagers. He ran his first race with 10 dogs, the Yukon Quest. He said most people start with 14-16 dogs. After a few years of running he ran the Iditarod and was named rookie of the year. He now has a kennel and 65 dogs.
Hugh is a passionate person. He talked about focus on goals as the key to success. He is in tune with his mind and body. He does not need to set his alarm clock. He closes his eyes and tells himself what time he needs to wake up and is awake within 10 minutes of that time. He also said that he often does mental imagery. He has lots of energy and loves this sport. Mostly, he loves his dogs. One year at an Iditarod checkpoint the vets asked Hugh to take a picture of them with his dogs because his dogs were in such good condition.
Hugh is also sponsored by the Education Association. He goes to schools and talks about the importance of reading. He carries children's books along the trail every year.
Fun Facts from Hugh:
Mushers typically go through 3,000 dog booties/year. About 1,000 just for the Iditarod. They figure 1 booties/mile.
Mushers typically run at night because it's colder and the snow is hard. This makes the conditions faster and smoother. One musher runs with a head lamp that costs 1,000. It lightens the dark as if he is a snow machine/snowmobile. The downfall is that it needs to be plugged in to be recharged. Hugh runs with a battery operated one.
The dogs get fed treats such as beaver meat, horse meat, salmon strips. They get their treats every 2 hours. They also get fed meals along the way. They need about 10,000 calories/day while running a race such as the Iditarod. They boil snow for water and also make a broth out of the meat above. The dogs need to stay hydrated.
He told us of one story of when he lost his team 1 mile from home because of an encounter with a moose.
He had 2 dogs with him. One, named Annie, a lead dog. The other Nathan. He wrote a book based off of Annie's perspective. Nathan prefers Hugh's girlfriend and sleeps with her in bed.
Hugh believes that the dogs can still pull hard and be tough even if they live in their home. Their home is a, "revolving door." Dogs come in and out as they please.
BTW he also has a great sense of humor! Pictures follow of the talk.