Aliy Zirkle (born 1970 in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

) is an American champion of

sled dog racing Sled dog racing (sometimes termed dog sled racing) is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sled dogs ...

. Aliy Zirkle moved to

Bettles, Alaska Bettles ( in Koyukon; ''Atchiiniq'' in Iñupiaq) is a city in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. It is near Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The population was 23 at the 2020 census, up from 12 in 2010. It is th ...

at age twenty and began

mushing Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most com ...

due to the remote nature of the town. She adopted six

sled dogs A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in harness, most commonly a sled over snow. Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transportation in Arctic areas ...

and began learning how to race and train dogs. Aliy raced her first

Yukon Quest The Yukon Quest, formally the Yukon Quest 1,000-mile International Sled Dog Race, is a sled dog race scheduled every February since 1984 between Fairbanks, Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon, Whitehorse, Yukon, switching directions ...

in 1998 and her first

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod (), is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at lea ...

in 2001. In 2000, she became the first woman to win the Yukon Quest, finishing the race with a time of 10 days, 22 hours and 57 minutes. Aliy has been the runner-up in the Iditarod three consecutive years, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Her best time in the Iditarod came in 2014, when she finished the race with a time of 8 days, 13 hours, 6 minutes and 41 seconds. Aliy has finished the Iditarod 14 times and the Yukon Quest 3 times. She has completed either the Yukon Quest or the Iditarod every year since 1998. Aliy also regularly competes in shorter dog sled races, such as the Two Rivers 100, the Copper Basin 300, and the Yukon Quest 300. Aliy has received various awards throughout her mushing career, some of which were awarded to her by her fellow mushers. These awards include the Yukon Quest Challenge of the North award, given to the musher who "most exemplifies the spirit of the Yukon Quest, a spirit that compels one to challenge the country and win", and the Iditarod

Leonhard Seppala Leonhard "Sepp" Seppala (; September 14, 1877 – January 28, 1967) was a Norwegian-Kven-American sled dog breeder, trainer and musher who with his dogs played a pivotal role in the 1925 serum run to Nome, and participated in the 1932 Winter O ...

Humanitarian Award for exemplary care of her dogs. Aliy met fellow

musher Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most common ...

Allen Moore in 1998 and the two were married in 2005. Aliy has two step-daughters, Brigett and Jennifer, through Allen. Together Aliy and Allen run Skunk's Place (SP) Kennel in

Two Rivers, Alaska Two Rivers is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It lies between mile 13 (the Little Chena River) and mile 25 (the Chena River) on the Chena Hot Springs R ...

. The kennel is named for Skunk, one of the six dogs Aliy adopted when she first moved to Alaska and began mushing. During the 2016 Iditarod race, Zirkle and fellow competitor Jeff King were intentionally hit by a man on a snowmobile. He killed one of King's dogs. She had announced that the 2021 Iditarod would be her 21st and last Iditarod race. Her husband, who had been the oldest musher to ever win the

, had retired a year earlier. In 2021, due to COVID-19 and weather conditions, the course was shortened. When Zirkle arrived at the Rohn checkpoint, she fell and had to be airlifted to Anchorage for a concussion and upper torso injuries, though suffered no broken bones.

Race standings

Yukon Quest Results Iditarod Results

2014 Iditarod Record

Awards

References

External links

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
Official site, with webcams and data
Live GPS Tracking of Race

Aliy Zirkle's Kennel website

Musher profile on Iditarod official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zirkle, Ally 1970 births Date of birth missing (living people) Dog mushers from Alaska Living people People from Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska Place of birth missing (living people) Sportspeople from New Hampshire People from Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Women dog mushers

Race standings

2014 Iditarod Record

Awards

See also

References

External links