Dog sleds racing through Finnmark
Europe’s longest and the World’s northernmost dog sled race is running trough Finnmark County in northern Norway this week. The race is 1000 kilometers long and 36 sleds compete for the victory.
Since Saturday the mushers and their 14 dogs have been almost constantly on the move and with very little sleep for the mushers. Finnmarksløpet is not only about making the dogs run fast. It is also a lot of tactics. When to take breaks, how long breaks, how to run your own race and avoid being stressed by other racers. Even though it is vital to run fast in order to win, it is almost equally important to have a good tactic.
As the race enters its last phase, there are six mushers who are less than two hours apart competing for the victory. It is 300 kilometers to go before the finish line, so nothing is final until the first dog sled pass the finish line in Alta. This will probably happen around midnight between Thursday and Friday.
