First the Bobsled team. Now a “dog-sled” team?

Posted by Yardie Luke on March 23, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | Comments are off for this article

The Jamaican bobsleigh team captured the attention of the world in 1988 when they took part in the Winter Olympics thus inspiring the Hollywood film Cool Runnings.

Now a 27 year-old Jamaican from St Ann, has just topped that accomplishment by completing the rigorous Iditarod, a 1,150-mile (1,850km) dog-sled race across the icy wilderness of Alaska that is hailed as one of the world’s great endurance tests.

Newton Marshall, 27, a former horseback tour guide, became the first black musher to complete the annual contest. He finished 47th out of 71 starters in the Iditarod race, suffering frostbite and surviving on very little sleep over 12 days, four hours and 27 minutes.

“Jamaica has had a long and distinguished history in sports, and it is heartening that a new ambassador has emerged in a non-traditional sport,” said John Lynch, director of tourism.