Celebrating the legacy of the Iditarod sled dog race

And they’re off. The dogs of winter
leave Wasilla bound for Nome.
It’s “The Last Great Race” for sled dogs
on a trail as hard as stone.

You can see their hot breath’s vapor
in the frigid arctic air.
Each team’s musher guides and feeds them
demonstrating love quite rare.

It’s amazing. It’s quite moving.
It’s the famed Iditarod.
And the history that precedes it
shows how dogs were used by God.

When a plague was killing children
back in 1925
all the folks in “Gold Rush City”
prayed their younggins would survive.

There was serum that could cure ’em.
But just how to get it there?
Living near the Arctic Circle
meant they only had a prayer.

Forget boats. The sea was frozen.
And the planes could not be flown.
Model Ts were not an option
for all roads don’t lead to Nome.

So the sled dogs carried serum
in a relay race of speed.
Man’s best friends were hailed as heroes.
What a most amazing breed!

God used canines to bring healing.
Yes, they were a means of grace.
And to keep us from forgetting,
every March the dogs still race.