When Nova Scotia’s Bradley Farquhar is dogsledding in Alaska, he sees plenty of untouched snow and wildlife.
But he’s also seen beaches, buildings, and people waving at him on the horizon — none of which are actually there.
“Oh, golly. I’ve seen the strangest things out there,” he told CTV’s Your Morning on Friday. Hallucinations caused by dehydration are common during exhausting runs with his dogs, which wear protective booties over their feet. Most recently, he hallucinated those booties growing from trees around him.
“It’s so cold, it’s hard to get water or Gatorade or any of those liquids into you on the trail,” he said.
And the next trail will be the most gruelling yet. Farquhar is set to compete in the 46th running of Alaska’s 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometre) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which kicks off on Saturday. He believes he’s the first Nova Scotian to enter the race. It starts in Willow, Alaska, crosses through mountain ranges, over frozen lakes and rivers, to the city of Nome on the coast. He already completed three qualifying races to make it to this point: two 300-mile (483-kilometre) and one 200-mile (322-kilometre) race, all a fraction of the distance of the Iditarod.
“Dog-sledding has to be one of the hardest sports out there,” he told CTV Atlantic this week. “You’re dealing with dehydration, sleep deprivation, and going through the terrain, all while managing (a large group of) dogs.”
Farquhar is no stranger to adventure. He’s climbed the Denali mountain, the highest peak in North America, competed in the Marathon des Sables, the most demanding footrace on Earth, and swam the English Channel. But the Iditarod is on another level.
“It’s extremely difficult — much more difficult than anything else I’ve ever done,” he said. The race is punishing, not just for him but for his 17 dogs, which need about 10,000 calories a day of fuel for the race.
“These dogs put a lot of effort in and they work and burn calories. You can imagine, there’s a difference between running distances in nice easy temperatures like down in Florida, but in the cold, you burn a lot more calories. Even just sitting there you’re burning calories,” he said.
The Alaskan wilderness is so remote — many parts of it still untouched — that supplies have to be airlifted in to fuel him and his dogs. “You can’t drive to any of these checkpoints,” he said. “Only planes and skis can come in and land on the snow.” The haul amounts to about 2,500 lbs of food, which sustains him and the dogs for about two weeks.
Even with that much food, dogsledding isn’t always easy. On a recent 90-mile (145-kilometre) run with his team of dogs around 4:00 a.m., he nearly dozed off and fell off the sled. The dogs, though, were unfazed and faithful.
This man’s 17 best friends are what keeps him going. He doesn’t care about winning, just getting the dogs across the finish line happy and healthy.
“Spending the time with the dogs is amazing. Right now, it’s 3:00 in the morning and in my room there are five dogs in my bed just waiting for me to come back,” he said Friday to Your Morning. “It’s such a special feeling hanging out with all these guys. To go out on the trail for 12 to 14 days with these guys is going to be something special. We’re going to do this challenge together. Crossing that finish line together like that is going to be really awesome.”
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