28-year old Alaskan Jill Homer is planning a grand human endurance feat by training for a human version of the famous Alaskan 1151-mile Iditarod.
Typically a dog-sledge race that first began in 1973, it is known to cover the roughest yet most beautiful terrain in the world. She will be covering 350 miles of the trail on her bicycle over a period of 5 days, beginning February 24, 2008 (a week before the actual dog-sledge race) with a group of 50 people. She trains every day for 2-hours
The original race has been tagged “The Last Great Race On Earth” — I’m not entirely sure why, but probably because it’s the only such race in the world. The annual event symbolic of Alaska’s early history, is connected to the country’s legacy of “dog-mushing”, and taken much pride in.
People race in temperatures much below zero, battle winds that can cause complete loss of visibility, ride in long hours of darkness and climb many a dangerous slopes.
“People think I’m crazy,” says Jill; as much as she is terrified, she is also excited and most importantly, following her heart. You can keep track of her progress on her daily blog as she trains 2-hours everyday and counts down the days to the great adventure.