Last week Ballard resident, Diane Bedell, spoke to third grade students at St. John School about surviving a heart transplant and how it led to her participating as a tag sled driver in the opening ceremony of Alaska’s legendary Iditarod dog sled race.

The race was held March 5, and Bedell drove a tag sled for the ceremonial start of the race behind the sled of racer, Jan Steves of Edmonds, Wash.

The Ballard News-Tribune spoke with Bedell before she flew to Alaska.

“This is definitely a bucket list item,” said Bedell. “But each day to me is a bucket list item since getting my new heart. It is the greatest gift I ever could have hoped for.”

During the ceremony Bedell honored organ donation and Life Center NW, an organ procurement organization.

Bedell is a ranger for the National Park Service at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Seattle. She was delighted to share her experience with the students.

One of the many things she shared was how Steves was injured during the race: a malfunction occurred with her sled, and she was thrown forward when it suddenly stopped. Bedell said that Steves mushed her team to the next checkpoint and had to drop from the race because of her injuries.

Bedell also shared what it’s like at the beginning of the race when all the dogs are barking. Then at the immediate start there is no barking at all, just the mushers voices, breathing of the dogs and their paws moving on snow.

“It’s fantastic when you pull the release and the dogs go quiet. … You don’t hear much when you’re out; you just hear the glide of the sleds and other mushers. It’s very peaceful. … I’d say sometimes being on a sled is like dancing with dogs.”

She also mentioned how the racers pick their starting place by drawing a number out of large mukluk during a banquet the night before the race.

Bedell is not new to dog sled racing; she spent nine years as a guide in Northern Minnesota.

“I have always loved playing outdoors and have had careers in the outdoors all my life. … Participating in the Iditarod seemed like a natural step for me,” said Bedell.

Over 40 eager St. John third graders were all ears for Bedell’s stories, especially about the dogs. Learning about the Iditarod is part of a social studies unit for third graders at St. John. The students learn by not only studying the Iditarod but by taking part in the race by choosing a musher, researching the team and then following the mushers during the race.

St. John School third graders listening to Bedell's stories about the Iditarod.

For instance some students were following the winner, Dallas Seavey, and they knew that the second place finisher was his father, Mitch Seavey. Another musher many students followed was Aliy Zirkle.

In addition to following the mushers, the children also “study the physical geography, landforms, climate, and cultural characteristics of the 50 states, using the Iditarod to interact with the extreme conditions/climate of Alaska,” wrote Abby Mansfield, teacher of one of the third grade classes at St. John.

On top of that the students also gathered weather statistics during the race and read historical non-fiction texts about the history of the race and Alaska. This vigorous regiment satisfies the Third Grade Common Core State Standards.

Indeed, and it showed during Bedell’s presentation. The students knew an impressive array of specifics pertaining to the Iditarod and Alaska.

The Ballard News-Tribune even had to fact-check some of the information the students reported, and sure enough they were accurate. For example, students knew that Mitch Seavey was the oldest person to win the Iditarod at the age of 53 in 2013. They also knew about the seminal beginnings of the race: a 1925 diphtheria epidemic infecting children in Nome that required dogsledders to rush the antidote from Anchorage, which is also known as The Great Race of Mercy. Of course, students knew of the dog Balto, the lead dog of Norwegian, Gunnar Kaasen’s team, which was the delivering team out of a group of other dogsledders that brought the diphtheria serum to Nome. In addition they also knew that Joe Redington Sr. was the “Father of the Iditarod,” and co-founder of the present Iditarod race. The first race was held in 1973.

“The Iditarod contributed so much to the history of the Alaska and to the sense of community there.”

Bedell was asked what she thought the most vital traits were for a dogsled musher. She said the ability to trust the dogs, self-reliance, resilience, and “being strong enough to admit when to drop from the race when you no longer can take care of your dogs.”

With stories about the race, Bedell explained to students what it meant for her to participate in the Iditarod ceremony after her heart transplant and how important it was to draw attention to the need for organ donors.

Bedell received a heart transplant in 2013 after spending two years on a transplant waiting list. She was diagnosed with heart failure, and between November 2010 and October 2011, she experienced 16 cardiac arrests. In December of 2011, Diane needed an LVAD implant.

“It took a lot out of me to walk from my house to the back yard just to be able to relax and read. … This (the Iditarod) was a big, big success for me.”

Bedell said she hopes that in the future she might be a fulltime dog handler for an Iditarod dogsled team.