Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in neutral. An Alaskan husky in the Iditarod will burn about 9,666 calories each day; on a body-weight basis this rate of caloric burn is 3.5 times that of a human Tour de France cyclist. Similarly the VO2 max (aerobic capacity) of a typical Iditarod dog is about 240 milligrams of oxygen per kilogram of body weight, which is about three times that of a human Olympic marathon runner. Animal protection activists say that the Iditarod is not a commemoration of the 1925 serum delivery, and that race was originally called the Iditarod Trail Seppala Memorial Race in honor of
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race of Swenson's lead dog, Swenson's body crossed the finish line first. The first musher to win four races was Rick Swenson, in 1982. In 1991 he became the only person to win five times and the only musher to win the race in three different decades. Susan Butcher, Doug Swingley, Martin Buser, Jeff King, Lance Mackey, and Dallas Seavey are the only other four-time winners. Mary Shields was the first woman to complete the race, in 1974 (Finishing 23rd). In 1985 Libby Riddles was the only musher to brave a blizzard, becoming the first woman to win the race. She