Fired by a passion for running dogs, award-winning author Gary Paulsen entered the Iditarod, a gruelling 1180-mile race across Alaska, in dangerous ignorance and with fierce determination. After a spectacularly inept period of training and an even more spectacularly inept start to the race, Paulsen and his team of 15 dogs ran for 17 days through the beautiful, treacherous arctic terrain. They crossed the barren moon-like landscape of the Alaskan interior and witnessed sunrises that cast a golden blaze over the vast waters of the Bering Sea. Enduring blinding wind, snowstorms, dogfights, frostbite, moose attacks, sleep deprivation and hallucinations, he pushed on. This book recounts his adventure.