For ice road mushers, there’s no place like Nome

ANCHORAGE, Alaska. – – There are at least two teams of sledders in the annual Anchorage-to-Nome Iditarod dog-sled race who should know with pinpoint accuracy how many hours they spend mushing, how much time they spend sleeping, and how many minutes they log waiting around for the dogs to eat.

We’re of course referring to the two teams of racers sponsored by the logbook publisher J.J. Keller& Son of Neenah Wis.

What’s more, as of this posting and according to www.iditarod.com, the two Keller teams — driven by Dallas Seavey and Mitch Seavey, were in first and ninth place respectively, out of a field of more than 60 racers.

The annual race started last Sunday, in Anchorage.

Jim and Rosanne Keller flew from head office in Neenah, Wisconsin, to Anchorage to wish the mushers well (and host a luncheon for Keller’s Anchorage-based clients). They’ll be returning with a film crew to Nome sometime around St. Patrick’s Day, which is when the finishers start arriving in Nome.

The record for the 1,149-mile trek is eight days but race insiders feel that this won’t be the year the record is broken.

The Iditarod is considered one of the last great racing challenges of the world.

There are more than 60 teams, each comprised of between 12 and 16 dogs, racing through the wilds of Alaska.

For more information on this, the world-cup of dog sledding, check out Jim Keller’s blog at www.jjkeller.com/Iditarod.