John Schandelmeier finds himself running a race he has no desire to run after a last-minute Iditarod substitution

AND.COM ^ | March 12, 2020 | Aubrey Wieber

[Morgana]

NIKOLAI — Most mushers plan for a year, at least, to run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. John Schandelmeier had an hour.

Schandelmeier said Wednesday morning in the frigid cold at the Nikolai checkpoint that he no longer has the burning desire to race sled dogs. To him, there would be no difference in finishing or winning the Red Lantern, the prize for the last musher to cross the finish line in Nome.

Schandelmeier was a last-minute substitute for his wife, Zoya DeNure, who withdrew from the race just before the restart in Willow because of a heart condition.

“We had as much of a discussion as we could over the phone, and I got the OK from the race marshal, Mark Nordman, to run the team just prior to the start,” Schandelmeier said.

“So, I started borrowing gear.”

Schandelmeier said DeNure has a preexisting condition called atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat she was diagnosed with three years ago.

Schandelmeier said it’s acted up once in the past year or so, but DeNure had to be hospitalized the day of the race start.

He was able to talk with her briefly in Finger Lake and said she is doing all right, but he hasn’t been able to talk to her since.

“She’s doing fine, she was headed home,” Schandelmeier said. “She’s seeing a heart specialist … Beyond that, I can’t tell you much.”

So, on Wednesday, Schandelmeier found himself feeding dogs frozen chunks of salmon in near 30-below weather, wearing other people’s clothes, running another person’s race.

[nwrep]

[Tallguy]

Schandelmeier is battling the weather. He pieced together gear at the starting line from six mushers — he doesn’t even know who — and it doesn’t all fit together well. On Tuesday night, in minus 40 temperatures, he got a little frostbite on his hands and feet.

He’s also battling a bacterial leg infection he got in November, which caused him to be on antibiotics for two months. He’s hobbling a bit, he said, but getting through it.

In this COVIN-19 hysteria, I think it's probably good to pause and consider this guy's toughness.

[Morgana]

About now I wish I was up there!

[caver]

“I think it’s probably good to pause and consider this guy’s toughness.”

With all he has going on, I’m not sure tough is a good definition.

[Tallguy]

If social isolation is what we’re all supposed to be striving for, I think being a musher is probably the ultimate.

[Morgana]

ALASKA PING