Joe Redington Joe Redington Joe Redington, Senior (February 1, 1917 – June 24, 1999) was an American dog musher and kennel owner, who is best known as the ""Father of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race"", a long distance sled dog race run annually from the Anchorage area to Nome, Alaska. Redington was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma on February 1, 1917 and lived there until he was six years old. His mother left him shortly after his birth, and he grew up with his father and his brothers James and Ray. Joe said there were rumors that his mother was the outlaw
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race expedition to the South Pole and competed in the only Olympic sled dog race, became lost for five days after leaving Rainy Pass and nearly died. The trail down Dalzell Gorge from the divide is regarded as the worst stretch of the trail. Steep and straight, it drops in elevation in just , and there is little traction so the teams are hard to control. Mushers have to ride the brake most of the way down and use a snow hook for traction. In 1988, rookie Peryll Kyzer fell through an ice bridge into a creek and spent the night