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MELANIE SHIRILLA
Melanie has been racing since 1994 and joined the professional ranks in 1999. At 29 years old, Melanie became the first female to ever capture the elusive 2002 Stage Stop sled dog race championship! She fended off a field of international champions (including 4-time Iditarod champion and husband, Doug Swingley) to finish the 12-day sled dog race is just over 35 hours. She also took a second place in the 2001 International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race, making her the highest placing female in the race’s history. In her first effort in a world-class event, the 2000 IPSSSDR, she drove her dog-team to a third place finish. What is more, she became the first woman in the history of the race to wear the yellow jersey and she set the record for the longest stage of the race. She has been instrumental in the training of three of the Iditarod champion dog-teams and is devoted to leading their kennel to many more victories in the years to come. In the off-season, Melanie spends her free time running marathons to keep in race shape for her team. Her and her husband, Doug, live in Lincoln, Montana where Melanie runs their kennel. Her duties include veterinary care (she was a vet tech prior to mushing), puppy rearing, employment management and training. Melanie lists her love of her dogs and her lifestyle in the Montana mountains with Doug Swingley as the most important things in her life. Melanie will be competing in the 2003 Idatarod!
Melanie Shirilla, left, exchanges wedding vows with her fiance, four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Doug Swingley, as they are married under the Iditarod's burled arch on Front Street in Nome Sunday. Swingley crossed the finish line in the 1,100-mile sled dog race across Alaska on Saturday. (Al Grillo /
Associated Press) Game
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