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The Alpirod is a defunct sled dog stage race in southern Europe.〔Firth, p. 241〕 Its name comes from a combination of the Alps, where the race took place, and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, upon which the race was based. The competition consisted of a 14-day stage race in 11 cities in four countries: Italy, Germany, Austria and France.〔Bragg, Beth. "Promoter seeks Siberia dog race", ''Anchorage Daily News''. October 22, 1988. Page B2.〕〔Firth, p. 51〕 The competition consisted of multiple short races separated by evening breaks, similar to cycling's Tour de France. At the time, it was the largest sled dog race outside North America.〔Medred, Craig. "Alpirod: Futuristic look at sled dog racing", ''Anchorage Daily News''. January 23, 1989. Page B1.〕 The race was organized by Armen Khatchikian, an Italian Iditarod competitor who hoped to bring a form of that race to Europe. It first took place in 1988,〔 and the inaugural race was won by Alaska racer Joe Runyan.〔Firth, p. 242〕 In 1989, the race was won by Kathy Swenson.〔 She was the first woman to win the race.〔Staff Report. "Update", ''USA Today''. February 6, 1989. Page C11.〕 In 1990, Alaskan Roxy Wright Champaine won the race, becoming the third American winner.〔Heiberger, Scott. "Alpirod remains Alaskan", ''Anchorage Daily News''. February 10, 1990. Page B1.〕 In 1992, the race was won by Nenana, Alaska musher Jacques Philip,〔Enders, John. "International popularity of event could take off", The Associated Press. Published in the ''St. Louis Post Dispatch''. March 15, 1992. Page F13.〕 who went on to win the race three times.〔Williams, Van. "Philip shows his affinity for stage races", ''Anchorage Daily News''. December 22, 1997. Page C2.〕 Despite its initial success, it soon ran into difficulties. Fundraising and obtaining sponsors for the race proved difficult, and the competition was hampered by a lack of snow.〔 In addition, the limited popularity of long-distance mushing outside North America crippled participation, as did the £10,000 cost to fly a dog team from Alaska to Italy.〔Hart, Jeremy. "Cry of 'mush!' as dogs pant over the piste", ''The (London, England) Times''. January 28, 1989.〕 These factors caused the race to be shortened to in the early 1990s and shortened again to fewer than for the 1994 race.〔 Prior to the 1996 race, the competition's primary sponsor, dog food manufacturer Royal Canin, ended its support of the competition and organizers announced its cancellation. Despite hopes that the race would find a new title sponsor to support its $150,000 purse, no sponsor emerged.〔Murray, Tim. "Mushers seek new races", ''Anchorage Daily News''. September 27, 1995. Page C1.〕 The Alpirod was a pioneer in the use of dog microchip identification, requiring it several years before the Yukon Quest or Iditarod made the process mandatory.〔O'Donoghue, Brian. "'Robodog' teams will sport microchip IDs for Iditarod", ''Anchorage Daily News''. January 2, 1993. Page A1.〕 The unofficial successor to the Alpirod is the AlpenTrail, a sled dog race in the Alps started by several of the Alpirod's organizers.〔AlpenTrail. ("History of the Alpen-Trail" ), Alpentrail.de. Accessed February 27, 2009.〕 ==References== * Firth, John. ''Yukon Quest: The 1,000-Mile Dog Sled Race Through the Yukon and Alaska''. Lost Moose Publishing, May 1998. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alpirod」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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