Lynda Barcome 2007 Dog Musher
from Willow, Alaska

As a teenager growing up in Michigan, I can remember watching the Iditarod sled dog race on TV. Our family pet at the time was a very smart and very fast Siberian Husky named “Sheba”. Winter was always her favorite time of year. But it was beyond my comprehension to imagine a large group of huskies, working as a team, while pulling anyone on a sled across the wilderness. However, those images stayed with me as I finished school, graduated from college with my teaching degree and headed off to my first teaching job in Houston, Texas. Twelve years later, that image was still strong enough to influence me in giving up the routines of city life and to take a chance on the adventures of “The Last Frontier”.

Soon after arriving in Alaska, I was introduced to a Chugiak musher who was training for her first Iditarod. I offered my services as a “pooper scooper” or anything else that needed doing, if she would only teach me how to run a dog team. I was given the older, senior members of the kennel who would not be training for the big race. But I can still close my eyes and recall the thrill of sliding along behind that powerful team of 3 dogs. When I finished that run, I’m sure my face expressed my feelings of joy. My mentor commented that I had just become “hooked” on a sport that was more addictive and more expensive than any drug habit.

I’ve had my own kennel of sled dogs for the last 13 years. I’m still “hooked” and still spending most of my teaching salary on dogs. My kennel currently includes 17 dogs, several of which have retired from the team and moved onto my couch. 11 of my “best friends” are busy training with me as we prepare for the challenges of the Serum Run! All but 2 were born in my yard, and all but 1 have been trained exclusively by me. My dog team will be essentially a “family affair”. Kiana, my best leader, is mother to the 8 three year olds that will be traveling with me. King, who I purchased from Susan Butcher, is the father of those same youngsters. The odd one out is Kipnuk, the adopted uncle who basically grew up as Kiana’s brother, although they are not related. Getting them all to Nome will be the biggest thrill of my mushing career.

I just recently moved my kennel from Palmer to Willow. I commute to Eagle River where I teach Physical Education at Alpenglow Elementary. I look forward to sharing the adventure of Serum Run with my students and the entire community of Alpenglow. The staff and I are busy planning lots of lessons and units in which our students will learn the history of the 1925 Serum Relay and keep up with all the action along the trail this year. Through the wonders of modern technology, we may even get to share our adventures and lessons with many other interested folks from around the state, the country, and possibly beyond.