Shortly after midnight, Allen Moore crossed under the famous burled arch in Nome to complete his third Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. His exact time has not been posted yet, but the duration of his team’s journey was just over 12 days, 10 hours. Allen is thrilled about his team, and all 11 dogs are in excellent shape. We’ve talked a lot about this team of young racers, but it’s still hard to express how significant their accomplishment is. Only four dogs on Allen’s starting team had Iditarod experience, and only three of them finished. All the rest were Iditarod “rookies” and none of them had ever run these kinds of distances. To have this many young dogs gain so much experience so fast is a tremendous boost to the future of SP Kennel. Congratulations to Allen on such an extraordinary performance of dog care!
I have some good video of the finish that I will edit and post tomorrow, but for now everyone — including me — is going to get some sleep, happy and relieved that both SP Kennel teams have completed Iditarod 2009 and are safely off the trail!
Happy, you rock!! as do ALL SPK dogs, great runs, yea for all!!
Julie
Huge congrats to Allen and the ‘rookie’ team so happy it all went to plan for you. You guys are awesome.
Sarah xx
Well done to all the SP Kennel Team: dogs, mushers, and support crew. An amazing accomplishment that captures the hearts and fires the imaginations of so many of us. Thanks for this blog to bring us into your world.
Way to go Allen. I am so proud of you and your fantastic group of dogs. I hope Hoss did well on his last Iditarod. He is such a great dog.
Allen,
It is good to see you in good health and high spirits after reaching Nome. My thoughts and prayers have been with you and Aliy for days and days. Congrats to the SP Kennel gang for such a great job. Hopefully next year will find me covering the “greatest race on earth!”
Best wishes from “Back Home”
Larry Towell
ESPNOutdoors.com
Allen,
Congratulations on such a great race! I cannot imagine how beautifully grueling this race actually is…
You have brought this camp of young dogs to the next level.
Know that our hearts and souls were out there on the wind trying our best to keep you and Aliy in great spirits.
Not a night went by that the girls and I didn’t send up a prayer for the safe return of you and Aliy and all of the SP Kennel dog’s.
I know you have to be proud.
I was following along as you picked your team to run, and could only imagine having to make that type of decision with such a young crop of dogs.
SP Kennel is the best in all of Alaska, and you and Aliy proved that again this year.
We are SO proud of you all!
Best Always,
Larry
ESPNOutdoors.com