Billy Snodgrass ran his first Iditarod in 1998. Has been running dogs for 30 years. He is a 3rd generation Wyoming resident. He used dogs to get from and to town, as snowmachines were not reliable enough. And now he owns 140 dogs
When asked why he does it? “ Its an illness. “ He is excited to be back, yet he is afraid that he might get killed 3 days from now, specially pushing 60. Right now his fears are so overwhelming, that he has a hard time romanticizing the trail. Once he gets through the mountains, in Nikolai, he feels like he can enjoy the race. For him just getting to the starting line, feels like a marathon, driving 3600 miles to get here. He has not come to be competitive. His main thrill is just to get to Nome. He finished 37th last time, and it felt like being the King of the Mountain. His main worry, is that his training on groomed trails, great trails, did not quite adequately prepare him for this even. His dogs have not even seen open water once, never mind glare ice or any other challenging conditions. “Glare is my fear 421, Billy joked.”
