Past champ, analyst to lead the way for Scdoris
Joe Runyan is training dogs this winter in the Kenai Peninsula’s Caribou Hills, far from his home in the Lower 48, expecting to once again drive a team in the Iditarod after a 14-year hiatus.
This time, the former champion will work as Rachael Scdoris’ visual interpreter, covering for Tim Osmar, who is slowly healing from a badly broken leg and is unable to safely work a sled.
Runyan has never been one to go lightly into any project. In the 1980s, he won the Yukon Quest, Iditarod and Alpirod, and is the only musher to claim all three titles. He retired from racing in the mid-1990s, moving from Alaska to New Mexico, only to re-emerge a few yeas later as a popular analyst of the sport, on the web, in magazines and, lately, on video.
Runyan was poised to help Discovery Channel produce a documentary on Rachael Scdoris during this year’s race. Then, in June, Osmar shattered his leg fighting a wildfire that threatened his home. When it became obvious that Osmar wasn’t healing fast enough, the show’s producers turned to Runyan.
He couldn’t resist.
Now reality is setting in. By mid-January, the 59-year-old former champion was shaking off the rust by running Osmar’s race team on 40-milers near Osmar’s log house in the Caribou Hills.
“The dogs won on the first day,” Runyan said. He didn’t get 20 yards before the team took a sharp corner, flipped the sled and dumped him hard. “On the next run, I won, and the dogs were under my control,” he said.
“My problem is Timmy’s got to buff me up. It’s been 15 years since I did the Iditarod.” While Runyan said he’s brimming with enthusiasm and optimism, he’s going to have to rely not just on Osmar’s advice, but he joked he’d be leaning on Scdoris as well. “I told her I’ve got to depend on her, too, to get up the trail. I’ll be the oldest Iditarod champion out there.”
Jokes about age aside, Scdoris said she’s happy. She was initially disappointed that her trail buddy Osmar, who successfully helped her complete her first Iditarod in 2006, isn’t healthy enough to go again. But she’s excited by the fallback plan. Osmar has run every Iditarod since 1985 and has a photographic knowledge of the trail and what it takes to get up it. And Runyan has been a diligent student of the race since he walked away after 1993. Osmar and Runyan will huddle over the dogs, drop bags and all aspects of the race right up until March 2, when Runyan will be on his own. It’s quite a brain trust, but Runyan said Osmar is the boss. “He’s the teacher and I’m the student. It’s a lot of fun,” he said.
Runyan’s job is to run a team a few seconds or a few minutes within Scdoris, who is legally blind. She needs a driver to yell to warn her when hazards such as low branches, steep descents or open water are coming up. “I’ve known Joe since I was a little girl. He’s just a fun guy,” Scdoris said, adding that she believes Runyan will be level headed when things get tough. Scdoris said their goal is to beat teams they are supposed to beat, beat a few they aren’t supposed to beat, and have some others looking over their shoulders.
Runyan looked over the dogs in both teams, concluding Scdoris has a good team and “Timmy’s got a real competitive team. The challenge will be to match up both teams. We’ve got to convince Timmy’s team to travel logically, which is hard to do with sled dogs.”
He’s also pumped about the video documentary, which he said will give a broader look at what it’s like running in the middle to back of the pack. “It’s about more than what it takes to get Rachael to Nome. It’s a commentary about physical and cultural changes,” he said, describing the producer as an “anthropologist at heart.”
As far as his new winter location, staked out at a bed & breakfast in Clam Gulch, Alaska, the former Interior resident said, “I love the weather. I’m used to 50 below at Nenana. I’m basking in the warm weather. That’s great.”
It’s been a balmy 27 below at Clam Gulch in February.