Recently in Iditarod Category

We have a winner in the Iditarod Race in Alaska. Lance Mackey of Fairbanks won the competition for the third time in a row. It took him 9 days and 21 hours to complete the 1,131-mile race with his team of sled dogs. "They're superstars," he said of his four-legged team mates.

Check out some more photos at the Baltimore Sun web site.

Sad news, especially since I'd posted just a couple days ago a link to some spectacular photos from the storied sled dog race that is now underway in Alaska.

But it's also a reminder of how truly gruelling this competition is. Some, including PETA, are opposed to the event altogether, saying it amounts to animal cruelty.  Others argue that this is what these dogs are bred to do and that they love the competition. The race usually sees one or two dogs die unexpectedly. This is the first in 2009.

It's not clear what happened to the sled dog in the team of North Pole musher Jeff Holt, a 48-year-old former teacher. The dog, 6 years old and named Victor, died between two checkpoints, according to officials, who will investigate the cause.

***UPDATE: A necropsy has turned up no obvious cause of death according to this 3/12/09 report in the Anchorage Daily News.