Radio Script
1998

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Sled Dog Science
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STORY: Without question, long-distance sled dog racing is among the most physically demanding sports in the world. Winning teams run more than 100 miles each day to cover the one thousand-plus miles in Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.

But just what does it take to win? Experienced mushers say the way to the winner's circle is through their dogs' stomachs. Mark May is a sled dog veterinarian, a former Quest musher, and racer in this year's Iditarod. He says there's a science and an art to keeping a team of hungry huskies moving down the trail.

MAY: "During races some of these dogs will consume up to 10,000 to 11,000 calories a day. Now that is phenomenal. You look at an average 50 pound sled dog and stack ten pounds of dry dog food next to them and you realize what a task that is for the mushers and the dogs."

That much food can cause serious intestinal problems for the dog. Instead, mushers turn to science and nature for a better solution. Fred Husby says the answer is found in fat, which can contain as many as 4,000 calories per pound. Husby is an animal nutritionist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

HUSBY: "Fats as a per unit weight contain two and a quarter times the energy of carbohydrates and protein. Long-distance dogs are trained to run at about 10 to 12 miles an hour, and at this level of muscular activity the most efficient use for energy is from dietary fats."

Fred Husby says dogs have evolved special muscles that are able to store the large amounts of oxygen needed to turn fat into usable energy. Their muscles also contain the enzymes needed to efficiently metabolize fat, and since a small amount of fat contains a large number of calories, mushers like Mark May are able to provide their dogs with a lot of energy in a small amount of food.

MAY: "That is the art behind the science. We talk about numbers and K-cals and energy and that certainly is the science end of it. The art is in doing it in such a fashion you don't make the dog ill. This is all very, very critical to the success of your racing effort. You have to blend carbohydrates, protein, fat, and water, in such a fashion that you can get it physically into a dog, and so that the dog can physically digest it and you have to make it appealing or the dog simply won't eat it.

Thirty-eight mushers are entered in this year's Quest, and each hopes to make it to Fairbanks first and win the $30,000 first prize. Race organizers say some 600 sled dogs will eat more than ten tons of specially prepared food during the race.

OUTRO: For Arctic Science Journeys, this is Robert Hannon reporting from Fairbanks, Alaska.