The rules
Whoo hoo! I got a new rake!
While this may seem like a weird thing to get excited about, it’s the first time I’ve ever gotten anything, besides little abuse and a smattering of gratitude for being a handler on a sled dog race. Even more so, because I can recall trying to clean up a musher’s leftover straw with only my hands and a shovel because I forgot to bring more appropriate tools. This year, the Quest gave one brand-new broom rake to each team during the annual handlers meeting to help with the cleanup chores that are a major part of our duties during the race.
The rakes were given out during the meeting race officials have with the handlers before the race to go over the rules and let us know what we can and can’t do on the trail. The main rule is that mushers cannot get outside help during the race, and that remains in force. What has changed is that race officials acknowledge that the dogs’ safety is paramount, and that while handlers still can’t touch the dogs, we can help ensure that they stay safe while in checkpoints.
In years past, I thought the rules were prohibitively restrictive. After the mushers left the starting line, we were told all we could do was show up at the checkpoints to pick up dropped dogs and clean up after the mushers. Officials didn’t want us to have any extraneous contact with mushers, out of fears that we would somehow give them assistance and help them to cheat.
This year, the rules are more realistic. Handlers still can’t give mushers any gear or hands-on help, but we can help them park the teams at checkpoints and stay in the vicinity to keep an eye on the dogs while the mushers rest. I always thought it was unrealistic to expect the mushers to be able to rest at checkpoints and leave their teams unsupervised, especially early in the race while the dogs are still fresh. As a checker during local mid-distance races, I can think of a number of times I had to scramble to find a sleeping musher to tell him/her that dogs were loose, or worse, fighting.
If the dogs are in danger of being hurt, such as if a fight breaks out or the dogs swerve onto a road, passers-by can help break up the fight or turn the team around to prevent a potentially serious problem. Mushers still have to deal with routine tangles and handlers can’t help care for or feed the dogs in checkpoints. But we can keep an eye on them, and that is a tremendous relief, especially this year when a thin snowpack means the mushers may have a difficult time keeping teams anchored.