There’s a guy out there with green and yellow harnesses and sled bag. Being from Wisconsin, I thought he might be a Packer backer but such is not the case. Luan Ramos Marques is from Brazil. The Brazilian Flag has a blue starry globe on a background of green and yellow. A banner with the motto, “Love as a principle and order as the basis; progress as the goal,” surrounds the globe. Interesting how both the Alaska flag and the Brazilian flag depict starry scenes. Marques has been training and completing his qualifying races with Vern Halter at Dream a Dream Training Center in Willow. Luan is no stranger to handling dogs. He’s owned a pet shop in Macae, Brazil since the young age of 22 and offers canine obedience training. Luan aspires to become a veterinarian. I won’t go out on a limb to say he’s the first Brazilian to run Iditarod without doing some further research.

Born to Run,

Sanka