The days of the same dogs winning over and over left with Susan Butcher and Granite. There are just fewer and fewer of those as the race increases in speed. The Iditarod gets faster and faster. Crashing the nine-day barrier looms. It takes young dogs, thinks King, to run so fast.
Youth equals speed.
There's no question about it. King, who captured the Kuskokwim 300 and the Tustemena 200 this winter and is coming off a third-place finish, said he will race a team of 16 dogs ranging in age from 2 to 5. Although it is unlikely a record will be set in every Iditarod, just the fact that Swingley, the Lincoln, Mont., racer who is the only musher from Outside to ever capture the title, has gone that fast, raises the bar. People know Swingley has gone that fast, so they think they must be prepared to match the record in order to have a chance to win. King sounds confident after his strong preseason.