Part II, The Race, Days 1-6 Summary

In Part II, Paulsen runs the Iditarod, a very long run of sledding teams from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska (one thousand miles). It will take Paulsen seventeen days and he divides the story up into these days. On Day 1, Paulsen is exhausted. He has hardly slept the last two days due to his intense preparation. He regards the race as a kind of insanity as there are over forty sledding teams each with nearly forty dogs, all competing and traveling along the same paths. Paulsen has to be ready to fly out of downtown Anchorage, right in between teams he follows and those that follow him. He notes that the Iditarod is broken up into two tracks, as the trail from Anchorage to Nome is divided by an interstate. This is the first...