By Blynne Froke, Finalist for Target® Iditarod 2011 Teacher on the Trail*, California
On Friday, March 5, 2010 four time Iditarod Champion Jeff King shared with an attentive crowd at the Millennium Hotel stories of thirty years of dog mushing. It was an hour that flew by more delightfully than an evening with friends. He told stories of exploits both challenging and euphoric, thrilling and tragic.
Jeff admits that in the early days he might have been a bit full of himself, but with such a great sense of humor about his mishaps that you can’t wait to hear more. He told the crowd that back then a thousand miles on a dog sled sounded utterly impossible, but since others had done it, “clearly” it wasn’t. Jeff went on to tell stories showing how sometimes passion trumped preparation and good sense, and found him in situations both frightening and humbling more than once.
King expressed great respect for the history of the early mushers as he admired their toughness and simplicity. He compared it to today’s complex, high tech innovations admitting that we have really come a long way from Leonard Seppala’s tin can candle headlamp to lights today that can be seen for miles.
Jeff told the crowd that this is probably his last Iditarod, but calmly reminded us that it is just a fork in the trail. He says he doesn’t want to put himself or his dogs in the position of feeling some day that he had done one too many Iditarods. Don’t be sad for me, he said, be happy for the wonderful trail I have traveled. He reminded us that the Iditarod is two weeks of some of the best and worst moments of your life.
King reflected on fifteen years of Make A Wish Foundation Iditariders with fondness and said that he keeps in touch with them still. He then told the story of one young lady that felt the thrill of competition very keenly as they passed other teams on the trail.
He pointed out that there are still many things to accomplish in the dog racing world. This year Jeff organized a new race, a 260 miler out of Cantwell with two mushers and one team of dogs each. It brought together some very unique teams. He said he was very satisfied with how it had turned out, but wasn’t ready to say if it would be a regular event. He also ran a sprint team at Rondy quite successfully. I think we can expect a lot more from a man known for innovation and always tempted by challenge.
After the talk at the Millennium, he signed copies of his book, Cold Hands, Warm Heart with illustrations by Donna Gates King. This book comes in audio CD also which is a rewarding listening activity for classrooms or a great companion on a long car trip. Jeff is an amazing storyteller and I hope we can look forward to more.
