Mike Derer / AP

Kim Darst kisses one of her sled dogs before a practice session. Darst, 38, is practicing to be the first person from New Jersey to compete in the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska.

“I’ve been worried about her, because I wouldn’t want to see her get hurt or get into trouble that she couldn’t get out of out there,” Della Mae Darst said, sitting in her Blairstown home. “I just tell her ’Be careful.”’

Between now and the 2009 Iditarod, the biggest challenge for Darst may be money. Sled dog racing is not a cheap hobby. St. George, the Iditarod spokesman, estimates it can cost between $50,000 and $100,000 just to get a team qualified to run the race.

The entry fee is $3,000.

Darst estimates she spends about $1,500 a month on food, supplements and veterinary bills. Then there’s the booties, harnesses, sleds and other equipment. Buying a leader — a dog that runs at the front of the pack and is trained to follow commands — can cost as much as $5,000, and even the dogs at the back of the pack can cost hundreds of dollars, Darst said.

Darst has some sponsors but pays most of her expenses with money she makes teaching flying.

Next fall, she plans to train in Michigan, where it will be colder than New Jersey. In January, she’ll head to Alaska to train before the March race.

Some animal rights activists have complained that the Iditarod dogs are driven to the point of exhaustion and sometimes death.

But Darst says the animals would never run so hard if they didn’t enjoy the experience. Before a recent training run, the dogs are generally quiet as they’re put in their harnesses.

But as the dogs are hooked up to the gangline linking them to the ATV on a snowless day, the cacophony of barking builds as the animals pull at the harness to get going.

When Darst lets go of the ATV’s brakes, the animals fall silent as they begin to run. Darst experiences the same peacefulness she enjoys when flying.

“When you’re standing on the runners (of the sled) and seeing (the dogs) enjoy themselves and running down a pretty trail that’s peaceful, and seeing the countryside like nobody else sees it, it’s pretty nice,” she said.

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