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Saffa musher tames 1 600km of frozen wilderness

Allison Cooper writes for Saffa Mag.

In 51 years, only 830 people have completed Alaska’s Iditarod, known as the ‘last great race’. An ex-pat became the 828th person and the first South African to cross the finish line.

Gerhardt Thiart spent his 55th birthday on March 15, stuck with his 14 Alaskan huskies in a 24-hour Arctic windstorm at the isolated Iditarod Shaktoolik Checkpoint of the famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Despite this, the ‘minimalist’ musher, who travels lightly but responsibly, became the first South African to complete the Iditarod, an annual, gruelling dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.

Read the full story on Saffa Mag’s website.

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