Runaway Dog Sled Team Ditches Musher to Run with Traffic

There are some things you can only see in Alaska, and this is one of them. 

During the same week mushers and their dog teams were competing in the famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, McKenna Wall came across an unusual sight on the side of the road. Wall and her husband were driving on a highway in Anchorage, Alaska when they saw a team of six dogs harnessed to a sled and running at full speed on the side of the road. The couple had recently attended a sled race and initially thought the dogs were part of a competition. But then they noticed something wasn't right.

Dog sled teams are supposed to be accompanied by a musher holding the reigns. These dogs, however, were running with no musher in sight. It was clear they were on the run, and the dogs were in danger of being hurt or causing an accident. While Wall filmed the running dogs, her husband carefully maneuvered their vehicle ahead of the team. With help from other cars, they were able to force the dogs to a stop.

Once they finally stopped running, Wall got all six of the dogs safely in her SUV. From there, it wasn't hard to figure out where they came from. They weren't a part of the famous race, but they belonged to a former Iditarod competitor, Gwen Holdmann. It was later found out that Holdmann's two children were giving a friend a ride on the sled with the dogs pulling them. Holdmann was riding ahead of them on a snow moped when the sled skidded on ice and tumbled sideways. The children spilled out into the snow, but the sled righted itself without tripping up the dogs.

With their load suddenly lightened, the dogs took the opportunity to keep running. Holdmann expected them to stop on their own, but that didn't happen. They maneuvered their way toward the road and ended up going with the flow of traffic. Thankfully no one was hurt, and the dogs were safely returned.

Do you have any "only in Alaska" moments? Let us know in the comments.

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