Musher Details

2009 Iditarod » Mushers » Aliy Zirkle

Aliy Zirkle

Bib Number: 24
Hometown: Two Rivers, Alaska
Website:


Biography

Aliy Zirkle, 50, was born in New Hampshire and was raised in New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, St. Louis and Pennsylvania. She graduated with a degree in biology from the University of Pennsylvania. When she was in her early 20’s, she moved to a small Alaskan town north of the Arctic Circle. During her first winter, she adopted six huskies, built a dog sled and explored the surrounding wilderness with her dog team. The challenges of this first winter taught her many of the skills that she uses today. This solitary, independent, wilderness lifestyle that Aliy fell in love 26 years ago has now ironically, thrown her into the media spotlight. While she has had many successes in her dog mushing career, she has also had notable disappointments. Aliy finished 2nd place in the Iditarod three times in a row. She is the first, and only, woman to win the Yukon Quest (a 1,000 mile remote mushing adventure race.) Aliy and her husband, Allen Moore, an Iditarod veteran and Yukon Quest winner, own and operate SP Kennel – a premier sled dog kennel in Two Rivers, Alaska. They strive to be the best they can through complete dedication to their canine teammates and to the sport. They are also committed to the Alaskan community that has given them unwavering support and incredible encouragement through the years. Huskies, dog mushing and Iditarod have been the center of my life…not just ‘part of my life’ for over 20 years. However, over the past few years Allen and my lives have evolved. The dogs that were the life forces of our amazing teams have mostly retired or passed away. While we still have their amazing genetics and we still have our skills to train and race, we are admittedly following in the paw prints our our retired dogs. Allen will not be racing in 2021 after racing in 11 Iditarods and 10 Yukon Quests. After the 2021 race, I will retire as will many of the dogs that have brought me some of the greatest joys in my life. Let’s have a fantastic 2021!

Sponsors

Horizon Lines of Alaska
Eagle Pack Holistic Natural Pet Foods, IN
Pleasant Valley Store
Hawthorne Suites
Mcgellan
Chena Ridge Vet Clinic
Wright Air Service
Lynn Budzak
Lynne Danielsom
Thom Swan
Jan Reinhardt
Ann Shillington & friends
Tom Eckhoff
Hank Hiller
David Pennes, MD
Tom Kenaston
Kathe Budzak

Shelly Smith & family
Roger Wasson
Julie Verrette
Tim Esaias
Randy Chappel
Fred Zera
Dr. John & Joanne Wilson
Kim Raymond
Ken & Amy Wheaton
The Joyners
Carol Andrews
Gary & Jan Edwards
Bob & Shirley McConnell
Lynne Witte
Caroline Hite
Eunice Thaeler


2009 Standings

Checkpoint Time In Dogs In Time Out Dogs Out Rest Time Previous Layover Status Distance
Enroute Time Speed (mph) 8hr 24hr
Anchorage 3/07 10:50:00 12
Willow 3/08 14:44:00 16
Yentna 3/08 18:33:00 16 3/08 18:36:00 16 0h 3m 3h 49m 17.29 66
Skwentna 3/08 23:52:00 16 3/09 00:02:00 16 0h 10m 5h 16m 6.46 34
Finger Lake 3/09 09:14:00 16 3/09 09:16:00 16 0h 2m 9h 12m 4.89 45
Rainy Pass 3/09 13:02:00 16 3/09 18:50:00 16 5h 48m 3h 46m 7.96 30
Rohn 3/09 23:23:00 16 3/09 23:40:00 15 0h 17m 4h 33m 10.55 48
Nikolai 3/10 14:41:00 15 3/10 20:58:00 15 6h 17m 15h 1m 4.99 75
McGrath 3/11 03:56:00 15 3/11 03:57:00 15 0h 1m 6h 58m 7.75 54
Takotna 3/11 07:00:00 15 3/12 08:31:00 15 25h 31m 3h 3m 5.90 ✔ 18
Ophir 3/12 11:20:00 15 3/12 11:28:00 15 0h 8m 2h 49m 8.88 ✔ 25
Iditarod 3/13 08:11:00 15 3/13 08:41:00 14 0h 30m 20h 43m 4.34 ✔ 90
Shageluk 3/13 21:11:00 14 3/13 21:16:00 14 0h 5m 12h 30m 5.20 ✔ 65
Anvik 3/14 00:40:00 14 3/14 00:45:00 13 0h 5m 3h 24m 7.35 ✔ 25
Grayling 3/14 03:30:00 13 3/14 08:49:00 13 5h 19m 2h 45m 6.55 ✔ 18
Eagle Island 3/14 18:06:00 13 3/15 02:26:00 13 8h 20m 9h 17m 6.46 ✔ ✔ 60
Kaltag 3/15 10:50:00 13 3/15 16:15:00 13 5h 25m 8h 24m 8.33 ✔ ✔ 70
Unalakleet 3/16 06:50:00 13 3/16 12:42:00 11 5h 52m 14h 35m 6.17 ✔ ✔ 90
Shaktoolik 3/16 18:52:00 11 3/17 21:12:00 11 26h 20m 6h 10m 6.49 ✔ ✔ 40
Koyuk 3/18 02:55:00 11 3/18 03:02:00 11 0h 7m 5h 43m 10.15 ✔ ✔ 58
Elim 3/18 13:30:00 11 3/18 13:40:00 11 0h 10m 10h 28m 4.59 ✔ ✔ 48
White Mountain 3/18 21:04:00 11 3/19 05:07:00 11 8h 3m 7h 24m 6.22 ✔ ✔ 46
Safety 3/19 13:25:00 11 3/19 13:27:00 11 0h 2m 8h 18m 6.63 ✔ ✔ 55
Nome 3/19 16:28:45 11 3h 1m 7.29 ✔ ✔ 22