Iditarod racers go gourmet on trail

By RACHEL D‘ORO, Associated Press Writer Rachel D‘oro, Associated Press Writer – 9 mins ago

Then it‘s their turn — and there‘s no skimping on the people chow found along the lonely stretches of the 1,100-mile race or at the checkpoints. Chicken tetrazzini and Thai noodles. Caribou stroganoff, linguini, turkey dinners with stuffing and moose breakfast burritos. Calorie-laden food for calorie-torching work.

"My wife won me over before we were married with her lasagna," the Denali Park musher said. "I‘ve been eating lasagna ever since."

"It‘s very important what we‘re consuming," said Seavey, the 23-year-old son of 2004 winner Mitch Seavey of Seward. The young musher was the first to reach Cripple early Thursday morning. For that feat, he won $3,000 in placer gold nuggets.

Also on Thursday, Iditarod veteran Linwood Fiedler of Willow became the seventh musher to scratch, leaving a field of 64. Race marshal Mark Nordman said Fiedler did not feel comfortable continuing with just 11 dogs, after dropping five since the start of the race. Another musher, rookie Justin Savidis of Willow, reported one of his dogs, "Whitey," went missing Wednesday between the Nikolai and McGrath checkpoints. Iditarod officials said the dog has been spotted a number of times since. Race rules prohibit mushers from continuing without the same team that left the previous checkpoint.

As with other mushers, Mackey also carries snacks, in his case beef jerky, dried salmon strips and hard candies, "stuff like that to kind of kill time," he said.

Iditarod veteran Paul Gebhardt of Kasilof is packing McDonald‘s quarter pounders with cheese. He‘s also bringing breakfast burritos his wife makes with bacon, eggs, hash browns and salsa, as well as his own concoction: french bread sandwiches with grape jelly spread on one half, Miracle Whip on the other, then heaped with roast pork and ketchup.

Another favorite for Gebhardt are Twinkies.

Canada‘s Hans Gatt, fresh off his fourth win in the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, said his energy and focus are much higher since he gave up the junk food he used to carry. Now his choices are heavy on vegetable bases. He‘s also taking meals such as tuna casserole and such snacks as nuts, smoked salmon and dark chocolate.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects age of Dallas Seavey)



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