[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 16, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 16, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 COMMENDING MARTIN BUSER, BIG LAKE, AK

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President. I rise today to commend Martin Buser of 
Big Lake, AK for winning the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race for the 
second time in 3 years.
  In winning the gold of the Iditarod in record time, Martin Buser 
takes his place with other historic Alaskan athletes, including Tommy 
Moe, the recent gold-medal winner for America in the Olympic men's 
downhill.
  The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is without any doubt the most 
difficult challenge any athlete could undertake. The trail, winding for 
more than 1,000 miles through North America's most rugged wilderness 
from Anchorage to Nome, crosses mountains, forests, muskegs, and open 
savannahs. Hazards to both humans and dogs include not only the 
physical challenge of the race, but more exotic experiences, such as 
avoiding charging moose and angry grizzlies.
  Buser crossed the finish line in Nome, on the shores of the ice-
covered Bering Sea, at 10:02 p.m. yesterday. His win sets a new record 
for the race of 10 days, 13 hours, and 2 minutes, more than 2\1/2\ 
hours faster than the old record set last year by another Alaskan, Jeff 
King of Denali Park.
  The Iditarod is an annual testimony to the strength and stamina 
possible to both humans and dogs, and to the peerless spirit of 
competition and good sportsmanship. It celebrates a unique partnership 
of determination, cooperation and conditioning between each racer and 
his or her dogs.
  The Iditarod Trail was first marked as a dog team postal carrier 
route in 1910. The race was started as an annual event in 1967, to 
commemorate a life-saving relay race with time in 1925, when mushers 
along the trail cooperated to deliver critically needed diptheria serum 
in time to save the residents of Nome from an epidemic. I am proud to 
have played a hand in helping the founders of the race, Joe Redington 
and Dorothy Page, obtain financing for that first race.

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