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Over beer and hamburgers at the Two Rivers Lodge near Fairbanks, Alaska, a small group of mushers conceived a gutsy idea for a new sled dog race that would be more challenging than any other marathon race in the Far North. In 1984, mushers organized the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Soon, mushers adopted an unofficial race motto, "Survive first, race second." The Quest trail boasts fewer checkpoints, longer wilderness runs, and more campouts. The trail crosses three mountain passes, including the dreaded 3,685-foot Eagle Summit, a killer of mushers' dreams. Outdoor survival skills and self reliance are on a par with commercial sponsorships and high-tech sleds and mushing gear. Yukon Quest is an exciting, inspirational story full of bigger-than-life characters told by Lew Freedman, best-selling author of eight books about sled-dog racing. Includes a list of race champions, names of all finishers, and 16 pages of photos.

Lew Freedman is a former Alaska resident who spent 17 years at the Anchorage Daily News as sports editor and columnist. The author of 58 books, Freedman is a graduate of Boston University with a degree in journalism and he earned a Master's degree from Alaska Pacific University. He currently resides in Indiana with his wife Debra. Among his Alaska titles are: the best-selling Iditarod Classics, More Iditarod Classics, Father of the Iditarod: The Life Of Joe Redington, Dangerous Steps, George Attla: The Legend of the Sled Dog Trail, Diamonds In The Rough, Iditarod Dreams, and Fishing For A Laugh. Freedman, who has also written for Alaska magazine and Alaska Newspapers, has won more than 250 journalism awards in his career and worked on the staffs of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Chicago Tribune, covering government, writing feature stories and sports stories. He considers Alaska to be as beautiful place as there is in the world and as special as when he first saw it in 1983. Freedman still makes regular visits to Alaska to fish, gaze at the mountains, and spend time with family.