Joy Davis, Educational Journalist, IN
Photo from SP Kennel
Allen Moore,52, is originally from Arkansas. He moved to Alaska 20 years ago. He has been mushing for 16 years. 2007 was his first Iditarod. He is married to competitor, Aliy Zirkle. Together they own and operate SP Kennels.
Allen has been in 3 Iditarods. Changes over the years include increased costs and decreased prize money. But Allen stated that he doesn’t do this for the prize money.
The dogs train from August to April. Allen trains year round using a treadmill and a bowflex machine. He also claims that fishing helps to keep him in shape! During the training season, Allen is focused on the dogs. He and Aliy also do presentations on dog sledding. In the off season he likes to fish and build cabins. He works in construction and taxidermy.
A typical day for Allen includes working out, dog chores and feeding twice a day, training dogs, and other chores (fixing sleds and other equipment). Races for this season include the Copper Basin 300 (He competed against his wife and his daughter.), Denali Doubles, and the Iditarod.
I asked Allen to describe his worst moment in racing. He said, “On my first Iditarod I had two dogs in heat in the wheel position. They were very spunky much of the race and playing with each other. I was stopped with 16 dogs at the base of the glacier (outside of Rohn) and they got “too spunky” and chewed my mainline. I turned around and the first 14 dogs were gone. I was left with just the 2 little girls in wheel. I couldn’t get up the glacier with just those two, so I remembered seeing a camp with snow machines a ways back. I mushed my miniature team back to the camp-at 2 in the morning-and woke the guys up. I asked them to help me find my team. I loaded the two dogs in my sled and they pulled me on my dogsled up the glacier to look for my team. We found them not very far down the trail. It all turned out OK. I had to watch those girls a little closer!”
But on the bright side, his proudest moments are when he’s running dogs all the way across Alaska and on the frozen ocean. Let’s look for a lot of support and friendly competition from within SP Kennels. Please visit Allen’s website at: www.SPKDogLog.com
Safe trails, Allen.
Editor’s note: Meet “Happy”, a wonderful member of Allen’s 2009 Iditarod Team by visiting Zuma’s Paw Prints at this link.
