Door GB Jones
GB Jones is nog nooit als eerste gefinisht in de Iditarod of een andere hondenslederace. In 2002 en opnieuw in 2004 voltooide hij de 1.100 mijl lange hondenslederace bijna achteraan het deelnemersveld. En in 2003 haakte hij af. Dit is GB's verslag van zijn reis naar Nome — het bewijs dat winnen mogelijk is voor wie niet als eerste aankomt.
You don't have to win to have a story worth telling, and GB Jones proves that with every mile he logs near the back of the pack. The details about his 2002 and 2004 runs give you a real sense of what those 1,100 miles demand from a person.
The near-last-place finishes in 2002 and 2004 make for a far more gripping read than any champion’s memoir. I read the whole 1,100-mile race tension in one sitting, and his dry take on being at the back of the pack had me laughing out loud. It’s refreshing to follow a real musher, not a legend.
It’s refreshing to read about a musher who’s more focused on the grit of finishing than on winning, and the detail about those two 1,100-mile runs near the back really makes you respect the effort. The writing captures that underdog spirit without over-glamorizing it, though I wish it dug a bit deep