Watch these excited pups race in the annual Fur Rendezvous sled dog 'sprint'

Sled dogs.
(Image credit: YouTube/Alaska Dispatch News)

The most well-known sled dog race is undoubtedly the Iditarod Trail, a 1,049-mile trek through the Alaskan wilderness that has been run in no fewer than eight days and 18 hours. Usually, though, sled dog races are much shorter — such as the annual Fur Rendezvous in Anchorage. Only this year the "Rondy" happens to be much shorter than anyone had anticipated.

The Fur Rendezvous, or Open World Championship, is typically 26 miles, with dogs running in teams as big as 20. However, due to this year's nearly snow-free conditions, the organizers of the Rendezvous truncated the race to just 3.05 miles through the city, Alaska Dispatch News reports. "[It's] as if you had been a person training for the Boston Marathon and then asked to run a 200-yard dash," explained race marshal Janet Clark.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.