Skrevet av: Trond Anton Andersen
Dato: 26.08.2012 09:59
For the very first time, one of the profiles from Alaska is participating in the Finnmark Race. Hugh Neff has done amazing 21 1.000 mile races over there, and won the Yukon Quest this season.
It is not possible for Neff to bring all his huskies to Scandinavia. He is planning to take 6-8 dogs over, and among them of are of course his best leaders. The rest of the team will consist of well fitted dogs from Mats Petterson in Kiruna. Neff is both an adventurer and competition musher. He is making a living of being a motivator for others, and is well known for his interesting speeches.
In our opinion we think his participation is a great idea, and we asked him to give us a few statements about his decision. Hugh Neff says;
- Playing and racing with dogs is a beautiful way to see the world. I have competed in 21- 1,000 mile races in Alaska and the Yukon since 2000. We have run in many smaller events as well all over North America. My funnest memories are competing with Native Alaskan friends from the villages. Last year we did well winning the Yukon Quest by just 26 seconds. More important than winning is being the musher who spends more time running dogs and travelling by sled than any other human on the earth. My heroes are adventurers- John Muir, Roald Admundsen, Schackleton and others. To have an oppotunity to see Norway and Finland by dogteam is a dream come true. I promised Per and Hannah who volunteered as veternarians during last year's Quest race that I would be coming to play against their country's best mushers so here we go! I hope to meet many new friends along the trail as well as learn from some of the greatest outdoorsman in the world. Thanks to my friends Mats Pettersson and Yuho Yleppsia for all of their help. I might not have lots of $ but for some dog mushers this life is about having a wealth of experience. Not doing too bad so far for a simple city kid from Chicago...
SIGNED UP FOR FL-2013: Hugh Neff, photo: privat