Former Iowa City resident is bound for the Iditarod

CEDAR RAPIDS - Each year, dozens of dog sled racers traverse the frozen tundra of Alaska through cities like Skwentna, Nikdlai, Unalakleet and Koyuk as part of the 1,000-mile Iditarod.

When the 2018 dog sled race gets underway on March 3, Iowa City native Emily Maxwell plans to be among those racing from Anchorage to Nome.

Maxwell, 32, a graduate of the University of Iowa, recently qualified for the Iditarod, which generally is considered the world's most well-known dog sled race and draws thousands to Alaska every winter. The race follows the historic Iditarod Trail - the northern route in even years and the southern route in odd years - and is a 'tribute to Alaska's history and the role the sled dog played,” according to the Iditarod Race Organization.

A countdown clock to the 2018 race already is ticking down the days, hours, minutes and seconds on iditarod.com.

Maxwell, who spends her year split between the Alaskan towns of Willow and Girdwood, has spent the last year training.

'I went through a huge learning curve,” she said.

Dog sled racing wasn't on her radar two years ago. In 2015, Maxwell was finishing her last semester in graduate school at UI when she first visited Alaska with her brother. There, she met Nicolas Petit, 37, of Girdwood, and the pair began a relationship. Maxwell moved to Alaska in January 2016.

It was Petit who introduced Maxwell to dog sled racing, said Mary Maxwell, Emily's mother who lives in Iowa City. Petit is an accomplished racer - or musher - who has been competing in the Iditarod, as well as other races, since 2011.

Initially, Emily Maxwell helped care for his 30 or so sled dogs.

'She got more and more interested to the point that she entered the races herself,” said Mary Maxwell.

Emily Maxwell said her interest in the idea of racing slowly grew over time. But she was hooked once she started competing.

'With anything in life, the more you start to excel at it, the more you enjoy it,” she said. 'Pretty quickly I was like, ‘I like this, I like working with the dogs.' It was a natural progression.”

In order to qualify for the Iditarod, Maxwell had to meet the requirements of rookie mushers, which included two races going a distance of at least 300 miles and one at least 150 miles.

But the Iditarod is another feat in itself. Racers spend at least eight days, often with very little sleep, in the Alaskan wilderness traveling through freezing temperatures without any assistance from non-racers.

'I am excited for her, but I know there are a lot of challenges, particularly with such a long race,” Mary Maxwell said. 'I'm trying to feel her excitement, instead of being the mom that worries.”

But Emily Maxwell said this isn't the toughest thing she's gone through. About four years ago, she spent two weeks in the burn unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics after being burned by hot oil while working in an Iowa City restaurant.

When things get tough while racing, she said her mind goes back to that time.

'I think, ‘What's harder than this? Two weeks in the burn unit,' ” she said. 'So, I'm tough.”

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