The Iditarod is on, mon!

Rookie musher Newton Marshall of Jamaica bonds with borrowed lead dog Larry in Anchorage, Alaska.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Rookie breaks barrier as sled dog race’s first Jamaican musher
• Newton Marshall not new to sled dog racing, but “this is the big one”
• Marshall deflects comparisons to famous 1988 Jamaican bobsled team
• He’s training with defending champion, sponsored by Jimmy Buffett

Anchorage, Alaska (CNN) — It’s the world’s most famous sled dog race, a feat of endurance for mushers and dog teams who must travel across 1,150 miles through some the most unforgiving and extreme terrain on the planet.

It is the Iditarod. Organizers call it the “Last Great Race on Earth,” and only the toughest mushing teams and survivalists need apply.

First-time Iditarod musher Newton Marshall was seen this week taking care of 17 dogs in a hotel parking lot in Anchorage, Alaska. Each dog was chained to Marshall’s borrowed kennel pickup, several of them barking to regain their leader’s attention.

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