Miriam's Iditarod Race 2016

Join my team!!

My adventures in dog sledding began ten years ago. After hiking over 2,650 miles along the entirety of the Pacific Crest Trail, I began to realize a few things about myself - first was that I missed hiking with a dog. There is an unspoken language and bond between human and canine that is incomparable. Second was that I wanted to pursue a career in the outdoors and third was that I was not moving back to my childhood home in Ohio. Although I love my family and friends dearly, I also love the wilderness, the mountains and above all, the adventure. Life is too short to let it pass you by. When I was offered a position as a dog sledding guide at Jackson Hole Iditarod, the puzzle pieces of my life began to fit together. After five years guiding and racing, I decided to follow my dream north to Alaska with the intent of eventually running the Iditarod, the World's Last Great Race.

I moved to Alaska five years ago solely to become more involved in the sport of dog sledding. I spend my summers earning an income as a dog sledding guide in Skagway, Alaska and my winters are spent working as a professional sled dog handler. The term professional makes it sound rather glamorous, when in fact a handler is essentially an unpaid apprentice who not only gets to train dogs for upwards of 10-12 hours a day, but also has the joy of scooping poop, cutting meat and doing random kennel chores sometimes in temperatures reaching -40!! Although not for everyone, I love my lifestyle and am ever thankful for the wonderful opportunities I have had to work for esteemed Iditarod mushers. I train their dogs (my passion!) in exchange for room and board and I, in turn, avoid the HUGE expense of trying to maintain a professional dog kennel. My YEARLY income doesn't even come close to covering all the costs involved - quality dog food/meat being the main expense. Working as a handler provides me with food for my stomach and a roof over my head while also enabling me to do what I love - connect with these amazing dogs in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I know I will never be a rich woman in a monetary sense, but I want not for adventure and purpose.

I am returning this winter to Team Racing Beringia in Willow, Alaska, to work with Iditarod musher Joar Leifseth Ulsom and expedition musher Mille Porsild. The main focus of their operation is to connect northern peoples and cultures through shared experience and free online education programming for learners around the world. In past years, I accompanied them to the Nadezhda Hope Race in Chukotka, Russia, and also travelled the length of the historic Serum Run of 1925. Originally, my plans for this winter were to train a group of their expedition sled dogs for a 700 mile trip up the Koyokuk River starting in February while also assisting in training Joar's race dogs during the earlier part of the season. One of our teammates, a young Chukchi musher from Chukotka in the far east of Russia, was slated to race a team of Joar's dogs in the Iditarod. However, due to sudden and unforeseen circumstances, he is unable to race this year. Unbeknownst to most people, many competitive dog mushers actually have two teams in the Iditarod. To train someone dogs is an honor, to race them, even more so. Since I am already qualified to race the Iditarod, they extended the offer to me with the knowledge that I would have to incur the cost associated with participating in the race itself. The offer was made very last minute and caught me completely off guard, particularly in regards to fund-raising. I know I can cover some of the costs, but I am financially not prepared to cover them all. Although realistically I can not afford this dream, I can't afford to let my dream slip away!

The help I am seeking will defray the costs of booties for the dogs feet ($3000), the cost of the entrance fee ($3,000), the cost of quality meat and dog food used in the race ($2,000), transportation for the dogs and I from Nome to Anchorage after completion of the race (~$1500 -$2,000) and various miscellaneous race supplies (hand warmers, glove liners, dog ointments and lineaments).

PLEASE help make my dream a reality. I don't have much to offer in return but I will gladly send an autographed photo of the team and a personalized written account of my journey to all donors and I and am open to discuss sponsorship packages! Follow my progress on Facebook.com/miriam.osredkar as well as on RacingBeringia.com

Thank you for your support!!