GOT $50,000 you just don't know what to do with? Ex-California horse-trainer, now Iditarod musher Lynda Plettner will train you for the Iditarod for approximately that sum, according to an article "Profit in Pups" by Paula Dobbyn appearing today in the Anchorage Daily News and on the ADN website.
The idea must work, because Lynda has trained eleven Iditarod rookies, all of whom have finished, and the latest candidate is moving in next month. Plettner herself has run the Alaska long distance race eleven times; her best finish was in 2002 at 20th place.
If fifty grand is a little too rich for your blood, you can stay at Plettner's musher boarding school one month for $2000. If you're just a novice, the eight-session beginner programme that runs on a series of Saturdays in August and September is a bargain at just $250 -- if you happen to be staying in Alaska during those two months. The 350-dog Plettner kennel offers a plethora of other options, from $20 kennel tours, dogsled rides, winter excursions, leasing an Iditarod team, summer residency experiences, etc.
The Plettner Kennels website gives additional details. Ms. Plettner, 55, a divorced grandmother, sees herself as "an excellent role model for young girls" -- for a biographical/promotional sketch of Lynda Plettner herself, see her biographical page on the "inspirational" NASA Quest website sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, breeding ground of American over-achievers.
Posted by jjeffrey at September 8, 2005 02:03 PM