“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step” (The Quotations Page: Quote From Lao-Tzu). While a journey may last a thousand miles, I don’t think a sport does. In the Iditarod, dogs run over 1,000 miles. What other “sport” does that? Sports involve work ethic, skill and a desire to do it. Whether it's baseball, basketball, football or simply running, the participant seizes their moment. These moments are made up of hours of practicing skills like shooting, dribbling, catching or just running. However, none of these sports involves crossing nearly half the United States in 25 days with nothing more than feet and legs! Endurance can be part of the equation, but at some point when the distance is too many steps it stops …show more content…
Evidence form (Dog Deaths | Sled Dog Action Coalition) states that about 15-19 dogs die every year in or during the race. Are there other sports where athletes die? Yes, sadly there are. Boxing, bike racing, even football are just a few sports where it’s possible that the athlete could die. The difference is those “athletes” have the choice to do the sport. Dogs are not given the choice to the Iditarod - they are told to do the Iditarod. Dogs die every year while racing from starvation, lack of warmth, and exhaustion. In 2017 a dog named Flash died from “acute aspiration Pneumonia.” Flash got this illness by inhaling foreign substances into his lungs (Iditarod). I don’t think that was his choice, and I don’t think the Iditarod is a sport when the participants can’t make their own choices. You could argue that a sport like a horseback riding is considered a sport and all you do is sit there just like dog sledding. However, horseback riding is not a sport because the person riding the horse only sits there and whips the horse telling it what to to do and give it directions. Horses also die from training and racing. How could you call horseback riding a sport when the horse is doing something it doesn't want to do all the time? Again, when choice is not an option, and death is a possibility, it is simply not a sport. Therefore, the Iditarod is not a