Students Scramble in Dogsled Contest

Black asphalt replaced powdery white snow, humans stood in for dogs, and six-person teams raced 1,049 feet around the MAC Quad in the Alaska Klub’s simulation of the Alaskan Iditarod Saturday.

The Klub contest’s winners received 1,049 ounces of beer instead of the generous monetary award for winners of the official Iditarod, a 1,049 mile race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska that ended on Saturday.

Five members of each human Iditarod team ran around the MAC Quad, pulling the ropes attached to a homemade sled on which the sixth team member sat.

The prize went to the hotter non-contiguous state, as members of the Hawaii Club reached the finish line first.

Alaska Klub President Corey M. Rennell ’07 hosted the event, now in its second year, armed with a megaphone in one hand and an air horn in the other.

Four teams squared off at the MAC Quad for the honor of “top-dog,” outfitted in various themed clothes. The shirtless Sigma Alpha Epsilon Juggernauts sported yellow and purple body paint, the Hawaii Club brought the luau, the Mountaineering Club donned bright yellow t-shirts, and the Outing Club saluted Alaska by substituting the state’s flag for their clothes.

A panel of “celebrity judges”—the Adams House masters—judged the sleds first on aesthetic appearance. The teams then underwent a time trial over a distance of 1,049 inches, a weight test in which the teams pulled two kegs on the sled over the same distance, and then the head-to-head race.

Rennell announced that the participants had to obey three rules—“No passing on corners. No stealing other people’s riders. No knives.”

The preliminary heats paired the Hawaii Club against the Juggernauts and the Mountaineering Club against the Outing Club.

The final race was a battle between the non-continental states in the form of Team Hawaii and the Alaskan flag-wearing Outing Club.

Spectators agreed that the Klub succeeded in bringing frontier spirit to Harvard.

“I can taste the glacial water and the elegant call of the great American bald eagle,” said spectator Michael L. Manco-Johnson ’08, as he munched on the complimentary Alaskan wild salmon provided by the Klub.

Members of the losing teams also enjoyed the festivities and post-race excitement.

“It was definitely a great experience. I just wish I had 1,049 ounces of beer right now to quench my thirst,” added teammate Andrew E.F. Gordon ’09.