We Met Sue Morgan!!!

When we first heard that Sue Morgan was going to give her Iditarod talk at USU, our family was very excited (many thanks to Chris for letting us know in advance!). April also managed to persuade the YW to attend for their weekly activity, using the excuse that Sue is a good role model of what a woman can accomplish. Even Kevin made it back from work in time to hear the last 30 minutes of the presentation.

Sue was as smiley and friendly in person as her photos depict. She was an entertaining speaker and radiated her enthusiasm to everyone (well, at least to us, but we're already devoted fans).

Sue started off by introducing us to three Alaskan huskies from her team. (She bought some of her dogs from Susan Butcher, a 4-time Iditarod winner, who sadly passed away from leukemia in 2006.) Next, we learned more about the sled and how it works. Then we were entertained for a good hour with an informative slide show and commentary detailing her journey last March for 1,112 miles along the Iditarod Trail. It was fascinating to hear her inside perspective--it was quite different from Gary Paulsen's book Winterdance. Sue made the experience sound more fun, even though she did include the dangers and challenges she encountered. Admittedly, this year the weather was much more favorable than in other years, which made some parts easier and other parts more difficult.

At the end of the presentation, the dogs were brought out again and people could pet them, children were allowed to climb in her sled, and we were able to ask more questions.

Ian petting Shasta, one of the lead dogs

So...if you're interested in running this race, start training and preparing now. It will cost you around $40,000 in the end. Sue says several years ago she would have thought people were insane to consider spending so much money and time on something like this, but now she feels it was worth every penny!

Here is a brief clip of part of her talk:

See you all at the K9 Challenge next year!