Corvallis doctor to enter Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) _ A Corvallis neurosurgeon is on a five-month unpaid leave of absence from a hospital to prepare for his fourth competition -- he says it's his last -- in the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race next month.
Doctor Cliff Roberson, who is 60, says this will be his last chance.
He knows what a whiteout feels like, and while mushing across a frozen stretch of the Bering Sea he found out what a minus-110-degree wind chill feels like.
But he has developed a bond with his dogs and says he relishes his adventures into the Alaska wild.
When the northern lights are out, he says, it's fantastic.
He has been in Alaska since November working with a leased dog team. It will be his first Iditarod since the mid 1990s.