ANCHORAGE, Alaska – One of the sport’s most popular mushers has announced she will retire from competitive dog mushing after this year’s Iditarod, her 21st entry in the world’s most famous sled dog race.
Musher Aliy Zirkle made the announcement in a retirement letter posted on her website Thursday. “I don’t want you to think that I’m just up and quitting,” Zirkle wrote, saying this has not been a quick decision.
Zirkle said the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has always been a spectacular adventure for her, but it’s also been physically and mentally demanding. “And if I’m being honest, at times, I have been challenged to my very core,” she wrote. “I know that in the not so distant future, I will not be able to give it my 100%.