This Week’s Top Athletes, Not Who You Would Expect.
This week’s top athletes are not from Seattle or Denver.
They are not as well paid as a Seahawk, or a Bronco.
They seldom get national media coverage.
Yet they are very happy just to do what they do, which is to run, eat, and wait to be petted and served by the people who work for them.
18 teams of these championship athletes took off in a frenzy from Fairbanks Alaska yesterday heading for Whitehorse in the Yukon where they expect to start arriving in about 10 days.
I always am amazed watching these folks enjoying their sport, when they take off at the start it takes a dozen big people to hold them back at the starting gate as they jump up and down begging to get going. 
I am equally amazed at how excited and enthusiastically they prance into each checkpoint and through the finish line, looking ready to take on another run.
The two things that they do appreciate even more than the love of their humans, is great food and cold weather.
They eat some fantastic food which their humans stop periodically along the trail to cook for them in a big boiling kettle along with lots of frozen meat treats in between lunch stops.
They like it cold, 40 below is best, 0 is tolerable, but if it gets up into the 20s or above they start to whine and look for a place to take a break in the shade. This kind of weather slows down all of the teams as they look for rest stops during the day and make up time running through the night when the temperature is colder.
Of course these conditions are tough on the humans who work for them, running along with the athletes, and doing all of the cooking, camping, bedding and pampering in temperatures that make the fingers reluctant to work well, but they do it anyway because they love their athletes.
Enjoy the video below of the Yukon Quest Dog Race and take a break from the superbowl frenzy today and throughout the week to enjoy some athletes who do it just for the love of the sport.
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