Despite Harrowing Moose Attack, Musher, Dogs Will Compete In Iditarod

The musher whose dogs were violently attacked by a moose in the Alaskan Interior and the healthy dogs on her team will bravely make their debut in Saturday’s ceremonial start of the Iditarod race.

ESPN sent reporter Elizabeth Merrill, one of the country’s best sports feature writers, to Alaska to do a profile on Bridgett Watkins. Here’s a snippet of a great piece:

THE DOGS WERE loaded into 14 small drawer-like kennels on Wednesday in a truck headed for Anchorage. On the way out of Fairbanks, a group of adults, children and at least one dog cheered for her and held up signs. “You are amazing,” the biggest sign said.

One loaned dog, Bugsy, made the cut for the race. Watkins says she’s smart and gets along with the other 13. Razz, the one who never left Watkins’ side, will be a lead dog, along with her son Pullup. Razz, Watkins says, is her steering wheel. She’ll do anything for her.

On her list of last things to do before Anchorage was to make a series of recordings for Timber, 10, and River, 7, to play while she’s gone for two weeks.

“They are my why,” she says. “My kids have seen all these heartaches and troubles and trauma, and if I give up now, that’s what they would picture for their future. I can’t quit now because they’re watching my every move. I refuse to let failure be the final answer.”

We wish Watkins and her dogs the best of luck and a safe journey from Anchorage to Nome.