Questions from YouCanBankOnIt (in bold, interspersed with Margery Glickman's responses:

What motivates people to run their dogs in the Iditarod?

The Iditarod is fueled by desire for greed and fame.

Here are some of the ways mushers make money from forcing dogs to race in the Iditarod:

They get advertising contracts, product endorsements, big corporate donations, book royalties and speaker fees. They charge for mushing instruction, dog leasing, food and housing, and for giving sled dog tours and rides to tourists. The sell dogs and act as consultants for movies about sled dogs. They win prizes during the race. Some have been paid TV commentators or have been paid for writing website articles.

The legally blind musher Rachael Scdoris hired her own marketing agent. In March, 2005, Craig Medred wrote in the Anchorage Daily News, "The marketing hook in all of this is her blindness. She has been sold as the little blind girl who could. This is why at the age of 20 she has a biography in print, her own marketing agent, and a budding career as a motivational speaker."

During the race, the Alaska media, including the Associated Press, the Anchorage Daily News, KTUU-TV and the Alaska Public Radio interview many mushers. This is the chance for mushers to get the attention they crave.

Isn't it true that the Iditarod doesn't ban the use of whips or other cruel and scary devices?

The Iditarod does not ban mushers from using such devices as whips, cattle prods or from making scary noises. During training some mushers uses "jigglers." They beat the dogs while rattling "jigglers." The dogs become conditioned to think that when they hear the noise the musher will inflict pain.

Is the Iditarod a sport?

The Iditarod is not a legitimate sport in which humans do all the work. Mushers sit, lie down and sometimes sleep while racing their dogs into the ground. They tie themselves onto the handlebars or onto the sled to keep themselves from falling off.

Mushers routinely sat on bike seats but are now using sleds with comfortable seats. In 2004, Craig Medred wrote in the Anchorage Daily News, "Musher Jeff King has developed a new, sit-down sled that some have labeled the Iditarod Barcalounger. King said it helps him get more rest, although he almost lost his team this year when he got to resting so well he went to sleep and fell off. He's since added a seat belt." Other mushers are now using sleds with comfortable seats.

Using heated handlebars and other gizmos, mushers are making coffee and cooking food while the dogs race.

The dogs are the real athletes in the Iditarod, but they get no benefit from racing.