"The thought of running the Iditarod had been in the back of my mind
for years," says musher Steve Charles. "As I got older and finally had
the time to do it, however, I began to really think about why I wanted
to do the race."
"I am not a competitive person, so racing wasn't it," he concluded.
"Spending lots of money, going without sleep and seeing the trail only
from the light of my headlamp weren't it either. When I've asked
Iditarod mushers about certain villages, they couldn't tell me anything
because they blew right by them." That wasn't the experience Steve
Charles hoped to have. He wanted something different.
"I finally realized that while I wanted to go to Nome with my dogs, to
go to Nome for many reasons, none of them would be fulfilled by running
the Iditarod."
For Charles, as for so many others, the Serum Run provides a chance to stop and smell the roses, so to speak.
The Serum Run '25 "is a long distance dog mushing expedition that commemorates the courageous effort and success of the original Serum Runners, who delivered life saving diphtheria serum to Nome in 1925." Today's Serum Run dogs and mushers follow the same route from Nenana to Nome that the original serum mushers used. Enroute, dog mushers and snow machiners stop at the various villages, speaking to schools along the way and visiting with those that live there. The goal, according to the expedition's web site, is "to commemorate the original feat and to inspire school age children to live Col. Norman Vaughan's life philosophy, 'Dream Big and Dare to Fail.'"The Serum Run was created in 1997 by Colonel Vaughan. Comparisons to the Iditarod Sled Dog Race are, for better or worse, inevitable. In an unpublished article, Carolyn Taylor, wife of Serum Run musher Steve Taylor, took a look at the similarities and differences between the Iditarod race and the Serum Run expedition.
"There are many similarities between the Serum Run and the Iditarod," begins Taylor. "Both were begun by 'Living Legends': the Iditarod by Joe Redington, Sr. and the Serum Run by Col. Norman Vaughan." In addition, both were designed "to encourage a rebirth of mushing sled dogs," an activity that was dying out after the introduction of efficient snow machines to Alaska. Both events cover roughly half of the state of Alaska. The Iditarod begins in Anchorage and ends in Nome, a distance officially cited as 1,049 miles but actually further depending upon the year and trail. The Serum Run covers 778 miles, beginning in Nenana (south of Fairbanks), and just like the Iditarod, concluding in Nome on the coast.
In the Serum Run, a train conductor re-enacts its beginning by bringing 'serum' from Anchorage to Nenana by train. There, it's handed off to a dog musher who wraps it in furs for the trip, just as was done in the original race against death. In turn, this musher and successive ones pass it on one from one to the other each day, until it's handed to the authorities in Nome. The Serum Run, it might be noted, also covers the original trail, one that converges with the Iditarod Trail in Ruby in even years and at Kaltag in odd years.
What are some big advantages to doing the Serum Run versus the Iditarod?
"A big one is that you get to sleep every night and start out fresh every morning!" laughs Taylor. This is a sentiment shared by everyone who has participated in the expedition, all noting the chance to enjoy their journey without feeling the need to rush through villages. Unlike the Iditarod mushers who want to minimize lost time, the Serum Run participants stop each night for a welcome rest and sharing, providing lots of rest for the dog teams.
"My dogs got fat!" laughs musher Rick Horstmann.
Unlike the Iditarod race, the Serum Run is truly just that, a run, a journey through some of the most incredibly beautiful scenery Alaska has to offer, with cooperation replacing competition.
Scott Chesney echoes these sentiments. "What got me interested in the Serum Run was the opportunity to travel the trail without all the restrictions a race imposes, without the sleep deprivation, and without most of the physical pain a race like the Iditarod or Quest entails."
Chesney has one other huge reason for being a part of the Serum Run: Colonel Norman Vaughan.
"I have an immense amount of respect for Col. Vaughan," he declares. "He's one of the few people on the face of the Earth who I'm comfortable addressing as 'Sir.' I think it's important to keep his dream and philosophy alive."
Trail Boss Kent Kantowski, who will make the run on his snow machine, feels the same. "It is a privilege to be a part of Colonel Vaughan's expedition."
"What is it that so fascinates people about (Colonel) Vaughan?" asked reporter Tracy Barbutes in an article published in the Anchorage Daily News on March 4, 2001.
"His resume speaks volumes about his accomplishments," she wrote. "He traveled with Admiral Byrd to Antarctica in 1928 and rode in the New York City ticker tape parade celebrating their accomplishments; gave an instructional dog sled ride to Pope John Paul II; crashed President Jimmy Carter's inaugural parade; married the woman of his dreams when he was 82; and, three days shy of his 89th birthday, climbed a 10,302 foot Antarctic mountain named in his honor." It might be added, that after promising his mother he wouldn't touch champagne until he was one hundred, he plans to take his first taste of the bubbly in Telluride, Colorado, for his 100th birthday in December 2005. He'd planned to scale his namesake mountain once again but financing for the expedition fell through.
Vaughan clearly enjoys life to its fullest and that sense of joy in adventure permeates the Serum Run. While it'd be wrong to say the journey isn't a challenge -- it is -- it's the journey that's important, not being first.
"I always tell people that they have to stop and look behind them, too," says musher Erin McLarnon, of Willow, Alaska. "It's amazing what you've left behind; it doesn't look the same if you just always look ahead."
Whereas the Iditarod is a competition, the Serum Run is a cooperative effort. Mushers and snow machiners work together to get to Nome. Dog mushers are required to do the training required for such a trip and the canine athletes must pass physical exams just as their counterpart Iditarod relatives must. While the exams are perhaps not as rigorous, let's face it, the journey is more like a camping trip than a race, dog care is an important element of the event and a veterinarian accompanies the Serum Run mushers on their journey.
According to vet Marilyn Swiecki, injuries were minimal, as was the fatigue factor. "The biggest problem with exhaustion was not of the dogs, but of the people. The dogs were anxious to run every morning," she remembers. "The mushers were very aware of any decrease in performance of any individual dogs and if they suspected a problem, they routinely pulled a dog off the line and carried it in the sled for a couple days." If the dog still wasn't up to par after that, arrangements were made to fly the dog home.
What surprised her most about the experience in relationship to the dogs?
"I was interested in the humane aspect of the treatment of sled dogs," she notes. What she saw impressed her. "The mushers know each dog as an individual and know each dog's idiosyncrasies. The anthropomorphize each dog more than I would have expected possible." Racing mushers, of course, also treat their canine athletes as unique individuals, taking into account each dog's capabilities when developing their racing strategy.
Prior to the trip, the Serum Run mushers will have trained hard as well as made all the preparations for the trip. Certain items are required to be carried in the sled, such as one day's supply of food for the musher and dogs as well as emergency survival gear. Mushers are also required to provide a drop bag for each day of the journey, each bag to weigh approximately 55 pounds. The bags are transported to select checkpoints where they await the arrival of the mushers. Beyond the required items, mushers can carry whatever they want in their sled. In addition, each sled dog team is paired with a snow machiner, who carries extra gear and enough food for up to three days in another sled pulled behind the snow machine.
Swiecki traveled the trail on a snow machine. She's had limited experience but noted even those with far more experience occasionally had a difficult time. "Few people have pulled sleds loaded with five hundred pounds of gear over the severe moguls, Blueberry Mountains, or the jagged overflow on the Yukon River, nor along the narrow trails with deep snow on each side that the sled insisted on pulling you into," she adds with a laugh.
"Snow machiners lead out each morning to mark and somewhat pack the trail as well as 'sweep' at the back to make sure everyone makes it in. They pack a "parking lot" for the dogs each evening and haul their trash off every morning," noted Carolyn Taylor. In addition, most help the mushers with the big job of dog care all along the way. If the musher is using the Serum Run '25 as a qualifying race for the Iditarod, of course, that isn't the case. The musher is required to do all the dog care and only allowed the same help he or she would receive along the trail in the Iditarod.
Despite this, many mushers consider it an advantage for their dogs to participate in the Serum Run. Carol Schlentner ran one of Ramy Brooks' puppy teams one year. Although she wasn't using it as a qualifier, she did feel it was important for everyone involved to be self sufficient.
"It is great having partners and help," she said, "but I think everyone who goes on the Serum Run should have the skills to camp out on their own."
Despite this logical need, cooperation does dominate the Serum Run. Helping out each other on the trail, righting snow machines stuck in a snow bank or carrying a tired dog, or simply offering encouragement to each other, all are part of the journey.
"Teamwork also includes camaraderie shared over evening meals and encouraging one another when someone's had a difficult, challenging, I-wanna-to-quit day," says Carolyn Taylor. "One musher said he hated for each day to end because it was so much fun. At the End of the Trail Banquet in Nome, most people said their worst day was that day – because their Serum Run was over."
"The original Serum Run participants were quiet, unsung heroes," notes Schlentner, "just like most of the 2005 Serum Run participants. They're not big name racers. I support the Serum Run for this reason. It allows the quiet, unassuming dog musher to participate in an 845 mile adventure. We welcome talking to the children and adults and have the time to do so, while Iditarod racers are on a very strict and tiring schedule that prevents such communication."
"The Serum Run is NOT a 'loser's Iditarod,'" emphasizes Steve Charles. "I believe the reverse is true. The people I traveled with, mushers and snowmachiners, their only motivation was to go slow and 'smell the flowers.' No fame, glory or money here.
Too many people equate mushing with racing. It can be a part, but the mushers and motor mushers I traveled with were there for the pure enjoyment of seeing the vast country, meeting people, and sharing adventures." For him, Serum Run participants are all winners, even though this commemorative journey is not a race.
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"The thought of running the Iditarod had been in the back of my mind
for years," says musher Steve Charles. "As I got older and finally had
the time to do it, however, I began to really think about why I wanted
to do the race." 
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