Video: Yukon Quest 2012 gets started

This past weekend saw the kickoff of one of the year’s biggest sporting events. No, not the Super Bowl. The 2012 Yukon Quest began. What is Yukon Quest? It’s just your run-of-the-mill 1,000 mile dog sled race from Fairbanks, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. It follows the trail that prospectors took during the gold rush of the 1890s and celebrate the Yukon River, the “highway of the North.” And while the Iditarod may be more well-known, Yukon Quest is considered by many to be the most difficult race in the world. Mushers and their dogs will navigate the frozen wilderness for two weeks and friend-of-Gadling Eva Holland is along for the ride and posting dispatches on her Twitter feed. She passed along this video of the start of the race and we thought we’d share it with you because, well, it’s just plain awesome.