Fermilab physicist Jen Adelman-McCarthy's sled dogs pull her across the Main Ring on Wednesday, Jan. 14.
Jen Adelman-McCarthy likes to get dragged through the snow, and she's willing to let you watch.
During educational demonstrations in late January and February, the physicist, who specializes in data processing for CMS and astrophysics projects at Fermilab, will explain why lashing yourself to 55-pound dogs and whizzing past trees is fun.
"It's an adrenaline rush for everybody. Sometimes it's everything you can do to stay on the sled," she said of her dog sled racing hobby. "It's a break from everyday reality."
She took up the sport five years ago as a way to get her adopted, abused Siberian Husky, Behr, out from under the kitchen table and used to people. It worked better than she hoped. Behr now eagerly awaits public demonstrations where he can show off for "his fans" and sneak quick pets from watching children.
You can see him in action Feb. 12-16 at Chicago's Snow Days in Grant Park and Jan. 24-25 at Morton Arboretum in Lisle.
Adelman-McCarthy, along with the Adopt-A-Husky foundation and Green Valley Dog Drivers, will demonstrate race skills and equipment as well as explain why they disagrees with critics who call the sport harmful.
"There are thousands of years of breeding to make these dogs want to run and pull," she said. "Not letting them do what they are bred to do is more cruel." Nearly 90 percent of the dogs raced by Green Valley were adopted from homes that gave them up because of their boundless energy.
Recreational runs through Cook and DuPage county forest preserves, and occasionally Fermilab, give the dogs an outlet. Adelman-McCarthy uses the solitude to mentally work through computer code formatting problems.
Adelman-McCarthy and Behr focus on four-to-eight mile dog sled races and two-mile skijor races, where one dog pulls a cross-country skier. The duo averages 7 to 8.5 mph in those Midwestern events. They hope to build up to the mid-sized 25- to 55-mile races.
Professional teams can reach speeds of 30 mph in four-mile sprints and cover close to 100 miles a day in races such as the 1000-plus mile Alaskan Iditarod.
This story first appeared in Fermilab Today on January 15, 2009.
Read more about physicists in the Iditarod.
