Iditarod Babe defies age

When this Babe won her sport's highest honor at last year's Iditarod dog sled race, many thought it must be time for her to hang up the harness. After all, she was well past her prime, far more advanced in age then all her fellow competitors, and scheduled to give birth in the spring. However, as she has done almost her entire life, this Babe will line up at the Iditarod starting line for one more kick at the can on Sunday March 8th. Babe is the 11 year old lead dog for Iditarod racer Ramey Smyth. For those of you without a calculator, that equates to 77 in dog years.

Ramey Smyth and his wife Becca Moore have a 68 dog kennel in Willow, and the Babe bloodline is a big part of that kennel. Ramey has a pretty decent bloodline himself. His father, Bud Smyth, raced the Iditarod 6 times, and his mother, Lolly Medley entered the race twice. Lolly's other legacy was that of a harness maker, and she initiated the Lolly Medley Golden Harness award given each year to the top canine athlete in the race as voted on by the mushers. Ramey's brother Cim Smyth has finished the Iditarod 7 times. That's not bad for a human, however Babe has participated in the race 9 times and pulled her best friend across the finish line in 8 of those attempts. Ramey has finished the Iditarod 14 times, but he can hardly remember a race anymore where Babe was not an integral part of it. He is known for his fast finishes an that was taken into account when he and Becca named their kennel the Homestretch Kennel.

Typically, the Golden Harness award is won by one of the lead dogs from the winning team, however last year that award went Babe on the 3rd place team of Ramey Smyth. At the awards banquet when Ramey was presented the award named after his late mother, the emotion he was feeling left him speechless. Canines have a life expectancy of 10 to 15 years, and sled dogs are no different. Sled dogs typically are in their prime between ages 3 and 7. At the ripe old age of 11, Babe will be starting her 10th Iditarod. Instead of hanging up the harness, she will be proudly wearing it - and a very special one at that.