Kuling, the amazing lead dog for Fairbanks musher Jessie Royer was the winner of this years Lolley Medley Golden Harness award in the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race. Kuling is a 9 year old who has now completed 7 Iditarod races start to finish for Royer.
The Golden Harness Award was originally presented by the late Lolly Medley, one of two women to run the second Iditarod in 1974. The Wasilla musher was also a gifted harness maker, and she convinced the Iditarod Trail Committee in 1979 to begin awarding a Lolly Medley Golden Harness award to be presented to the most outstanding lead dog in the race as voted on by the mushers themselves. Kuling lead Royer's team to an 8th place finish, a feat she also accomplished in 2005 leading Royers team to an 8th place finish in that race as well. In both instances, it was the leg across the windswept Norton Bay between Shaktoolik and Koyuk where Kuling was at her best. This year, Royer completed the 58 mile leg into a fierce headwind with Kuling in solo lead and Royer double poling the whole way in 6 hours and 9 minutes, besting even Lance Mackey's time of more then 7 hours over the same leg. That performance helped propel Royer from 10th place into 4th place.
In a race where the outcome was defined by a strong wind on the coast, the top dog out of 1072 would be one that could handle those conditions. Perhaps the mushers voting on this award were impressed by the amazing Insider video showing Kuling happily loping in the lead just prior to the shelter cabin on the Norton Bay. Fittingly, Kuling gets her name from the Swedish word for strong wind.
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