SLED DOG LINKS:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 13th, 2008
National organization seeks applicants to represent Team USA

Lance Mackey was once again nominated for Best Outdoor Athlete this year in the world famous ESPY awards - but, alas, the award eluded the 2-time Iditarod & 4-time Yukon Quest champion.

The award's winner; was disabled mountain climber, Scott Smiley. In 2005 while in Iraq, Smiley was severely injured during a suicide blast - and suffered blindness resulting from the accident. Smiley climbed Washington's Mount Rainer - while overcoming this disability.

We are thrilled to announce that Lance Mackey has been selected as an ESPY nominee for the second year in a row in the category of "Best Outdoors Athlete". The ESPY Awards are the one night each year where athletes from all sports join together to celebrate the best moments of the year. The ESPY Awards take place on July 20th at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA. The show is hosted by Justin Timberlake and promises to be extraordinary. Fans will have the chance to select the winners by voting online at Online voting continues through July 12 at 11:59 p.m.

As the first reported person to reach the North Pole by an un-supplied dog sled trip - Will Steger has been in the front lines helping to promote the preservation of the world's Arctic regions.

His latest journey, which brought him & companions around Ellesmere Island, went to plan - and luckily, without any serious troubles or problems.

The past few weeks have brought turbulent ordeals for the Kuskokwim Sled Dog Race. Former Race Manager Stacy Gillilan allegedly embezzled funds from the races heavily relied upon pull-tab fund raising events.

Pull-tabs are "luck of chance" tickets allowing government agencies or non-profit organizations raise money through the selling of the pull-tab tickets. The tickets are sold - and prizes are awarded to lucky winners.

It's reported that the city of Bethel, Alaska wasn't paid its $20,000 in gaming taxes, and $2,000 was missing from the race's pull-tab collections.

Rick Holt's 88 year old Grandmother, Vera Holt, was given the oppurtunity to travel up to Anchorage, Alaska to become her Grandson's Idita-Rider during the 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

After visiting the start of the Iditarod eleven years earlier - Vera thought she would never be able to return to the state again.

Rick actively prepared for his Rookie Iditarod run by successfully completing his qualifying races - with good placements & coveted awards.

According to the Iditarod website - Rick's biography is as follows:

Oregon musher, Liz Parrish, has spent the past 10 years training, dreaming, and saving - all for the 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The self-employed innkeeper of the pet friendly Crystal Wood Lodge in Klamath Falls, Oregon - Parrish accomplished her dream by finishing the 2008 Iditarod while simultaneously celebrating her 50th birthday.

"Since then I have felt incredibly fortunate to have done it and shared it with the dogs. I can't get my head around the whole thing -- it's too huge," states Parrish.

A former Napa County resident - Jeff King recently visited adoring fans in Glenn Ellen, California - where he lived by for much of his young life.

As a young boy, Jeff King lived in central California's San Rafael - where he lived only blocks away from a local Guide Dogs for the Blind facility. He quickly found an affinity for dogs & the outdoors - and felt the call to the wild by reading Jack London stories.

Now residing on the outskirts of Alaska's Denali National Park - the scenery is a vast difference compared to California's hot interior landscape.

Laura Daugereau visited her avid 3rd & 4th grade Iditarod followers from Cypress Adventist School located in Lynnwood, Washington - along with her sled dog mascot, Bella. Daugereau rewarded the children by sharing Iditarod stories, answering questions, inspiring them to achieve their dreams - and of course; letting them pet Bella.

After meticulously analyzing Laura Daugereau & her sled dog team during the 2008 Iditarod - students were treated with this very special surprise.

Birdmonster, a San Francisco based rock band, is going to "Nome" this summer. Their newest album, From The Mountain To The Sea, is scheduled to be released August 5th, 2008. Amongst their other "mountainous" themed songs - the album will feature a song titled "The Iditarod".

Further Resources:
Birdmonster MySpace (The Iditarod can be heard here)