Free Republic

A less-than-successful gamble on Internet marketing has left the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race hundreds of thousands of dollars in the red. Costs largely associated with the startup of what the race had hoped would be a money-generating Web site -- Iditarod Insider -- forced the organization to borrow about half a million dollars this summer to cover costs associated with gearing up for the March 2007 Iditarod. It could take years for the race to pay off that loan, but race administrators are projecting the event will be back in the black again by next summer. "The approved budget,"...

The Iditarod couldn't happen without them. The volunteer pilots of the Iditarod Air Force are roadies on a trek without roads, chewing through rough winds and winter storms in Cessnas to lay track for The Last Great Race. As teams start the push to Nome this weekend, pilots will leapfrog between checkpoints, hauling veterinarians and volunteers, and later transporting dogs that are out of the running. snip.... The pilots move more than 75,000 pounds of dog food, 800 bales of straw and 15,000 trail-marker stakes. They fly nearly 50 veterinarians plus judges, marshals, managers, photographers, production crews and dog handlers...