An update from the Great White North.
Al Hardman, the Ludington, Mich., musher profiled in the Family section on Feb. 20, completed the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in better time than he had hoped. Helped along by ideal conditions, he finished in 11 days, 11 hours and 32 minutes, good for 37th place in the 81-team field. He was shooting to complete the 1,100-mile race in 12 days. In his other Iditarod, in 1997, he was 33rd in a field of 53, finishing in 13 days, 58 minutes.
“Al said it’s definitely a young man’s sport, and he doesn’t want to do this again,” said Mike Stielstra, a friend and member of the Ludington Lions Club, which will benefit from Hardman’s adventure. “But he said that three years ago, so . . . “
Hardman’s journey wasn’t without problems. One of his dogs, a 3 1/2-year-old male, died on the trail from a gastric ulcer, something that even vet exams at checkpoints couldn’t catch. Hardman and the Lions Club had been soliciting donations to benefit the Leader Dogs for the Blind program. Stielstra said that the goal of $15,000 appeared to be within reach.
