 Hello, and welcome
to the official website of Wattie’s Great Race. This site is devoted to the immense undertaking by Siberian Husky breeder and musher Wattie
McDonald in his challenge to qualify for and compete in the World’s most gruelling and testing dog sled races –‘The Iditarod’. We need YOUR help to realise this truly tremendous challenge and to help Wattie raise funds for two nationally recognised charities so please read on to find out more about the race, Watties challenge and how YOU can help.  HISTORY
OF THE RACEThe race has an interesting history and commemorates ‘the great serum run’, a mission of mercy undertaken in 1925 by 20 mushers and approx 150 sled dogs when they managed to successfully transport vital diphtheria antitoxin across 625 miles of the US state of Alaska to save lives in the small city of Nome and surrounding outlying communities. Although dog sledding, the traditional method of transport in sub-arctic communities began to lose popularity over the years, particularly with the introduction of snow mobiles in the 1960’s, mushing began to regain popularity from the 1970’s as a direct result of the Iditarod dog sled race and the involvement of key mushers such as the legendary Joe Redington. TODAYS IDITAROD  Often referred to as ‘The last great race
on earth’ today’s Iditarod is truly unlike any other competitive
event in the world. Mushers and their dog teams travel over 1150 miles of the roughest, most challenging and most beautiful terrain found anywhere
in the world.Dense forest, frozen rivers, mountains, unpredictable wildlife and even more unpredictable weather are just some of the perils faced on the trail. Combined with long hours of darkness and temperatures way below zero, this race is truly a ‘race extrordinaire’ only possible in Alaska. From Anchorage, in south central Alaska to Nome on the Bering Sea coast, each musher and their team of between 12 and 16 dogs must cover over 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days. This is the challenge that Wattie McDonald will face in 2010. 
Wattie McDonald
has a dream is to complete the Iditarod in 2010 and raise funds for Clic Sargent (Kevin’s Day) and the Scottish Siberian Husky Club.
Hello, my name is Wattie McDonald. I am a Scottish Siberian Husky musher, slightly past his prime and given to wearing a kilt whenever possible
who wants to cross 1,000 miles of the Alaskan wilderness with just a dog team and a sense of adventure. I may be a little mad, but I am definitely
unique and so is this challenge. The whole challenge is really a project of four parts:- 1) I desperately need to raise funds and attract sponsorship to enable me to travel to Alaska in January 2009 and compete in qualifying races using sled dogs provided by former Iditarod Champion, Dean Osmar. YOU CAN HELP by making a secure online donation today or by visiting how you can help 2) I have to successfully complete the qualifying races totalling 500 miles to be eligible to compete in the Iditarod 2010 YOU CAN HELP ME GET TO THE QUALIFYERS, THEN IT’S DOWN TO ME AND THE DOGS! 3) Once I have successfully qualified and entered for the race, I need to secure sufficient funding to support my training programme at home and in Alaska, provide equipment prior to and during the race, transport my race team and equipment to Alaska and provide accommodation and basic essentials for the volunteer team during the race. 4) Once sufficient funds have been raised to make sure the race happens, we can then devote our efforts to raising funds for my nominated charities – my real focus for completing this challenge THE GOOD NEWS IS
Please take a look at my video at my YouTube video and then just click here to find out how you can help me and the dogs reach Nome. |
