When was the last time that PEOPLE Magazine covered the "Iron Dog" snowmobile race in Alaska? C'mon, that's an easy one. the answer is - Never.
The Iron Dog has been around 26 years and has never attracted so much attention. The reason is obvious. The 'first dude" Todd Palin, Governor Sarah Palin's husband, is in the race again this year. Todd's entry has attracted international attention, drawing media from Europe and the Lower 48, such as Sports Illustrated and ESPN. The request for media credentials hit a record.
Todd Palin has four Tesoro Iron Dog titles. The race is the world's longest and toughest snowmobile race.
Sarah Palin served as official starter for the 26th running of the 1,971-mile, six-day event. The Anchorage Daily News has some great pictures, just click here.
"Todd has been training a couple of hundred miles a day to get ready," Todd's racing partner, Scott Davis, a seven-time winner of the Iron Dog told PEOPLE. "We're ready."
They will vie against 34 pro class two-man teams competing for $150,000 in prize money. They reach speeds in excess of 100 m.p.h., riding over frozen tundra in sub zero temperatures.
The course stretches from Big Lake, west to Nome, and back east to Fairbanks, where Gov. Palin will wave the winners across the finish line with a victory flag. Racers spend about 40 hours on the snowmobiles and stop three times along the route.
You can track the racers on the Iron Dog site. They have an interactive map, GPS, web cams and a blog. Click here to check in on how Todd is doing in the Iron Dog Race. He and Scott Davis are team #22 in the Pro Race.
The site has write up on all of the competitors. This is what it says about Todd Palin:
Age: 43
Hometown: Wasilla, AK
Sled: Arctic Cat F6
Todd, the "First Dude", is a lifelong Alaskan, who enjoys snow machining and spending time with his family. He and his wife, Alaska's Governor Sarah have 4 children. The oldest child, Track, joined the US Army on 9/11/07.He works for BP as a production operator on the North Slope. Todd has raced the Iron Dog since 1993, taking first place in '95, '00, '02 and 2007. This is his 6th year partnering with Scott Davis.
For more from PEOPLE on the race's start on
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20257678,00.html
Here is video of Todd Palin crossing the finish line last year. He had a wreck and broke his arm but still finished fourth. Sarah is there to meet him.
There was already a serious accident this year. Just minutes into the race, one of the racers crashed and was seriously injured. Mark Brown, a 53-year-old North Slope equipment operator from Wasilla, broke his hip.
Brown said his snowmachine hit a driveway snowberm near the Call of the Wild bar. He said the berm caught him by surprise. The snowmachine flew up, and he flew off and landed on the lake ice.
Brown said he got back on his machine and headed down the trail but hit another bump. When the machine was airborne and he was trying to balance it, he discovered he could put no weight on one leg.
Brown said his machine landed at an angle and bounced into a clump of black spruce trees. The force of the crash blew his helmet and his shoes off, he said.
Body armor, required of all racers, saved his life, he said.
Ironically, Brown said he was the one who told teammate Andy Lachinski, 36, that they should take it easy during the race and try not to crash.
The race should end in Fairbanks on Valentine's Day.
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