There are certain rules that all of the Iditarod mushers must follow throughout the race. Each team comes with a musher and up to 16 dogs: Potts-Joseph’s team, the Raven Clan Kennels, includes her dogs Coki, Natrah, Loki, Bodil, Lebowski, Stoller, Sunny, Ninjuu, Revna, Freya, Coconut, Ginger, Anna, Stormy, Kobuk, and Blaze. “We have to finish the race with at least five dogs in harness,” says Potts-Joseph. “Coki is an outstanding lead dog—super smart and well-trained. Stoller is a veteran. This is also going to be Blaze and Kobuk’s first Iditarod.”
Training for the race, Potts-Joseph says, is as much about building mental stamina as it is about being prepared physically—and that’s also true of her dogs. “Any endurance sport takes a lot of mental strength—I just try to manage their health and happiness, as much as any other human athlete,” she says. On average, Potts-Joseph and her team will be running about a hundred miles a day during the race. “I’d be happy if I finish in 12 days,” she says. “There’s checkpoints along the way in Native villages, so in advance, we’re able to send out drop bags with supplies, gear, and dog food.”
Given the race is a longstanding Alaska Native tradition, the event also encourages a striking display of cultural flair. When word got out that Potts-Joseph was running the race back in December, it did not take long for her community to rally around her and craft special outfits for her and her dogs for the occasion. As a result, all 16 of Potts-Joseph’s dogs are outfitted in custom beaded blankets made by Indigenous artists from Alaska or First Nations artists in Canada. “Within 24 hours, I had over 30 women that wanted to make a beaded blanket for my dog team,” Potts-Joseph says.
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