Photos of Musher Pat Moon during the 2012 Iditarod.

We are glad to see the return of Pat Moon to the Iditarod after his absence in 2011. The Illinois Musher had high hopes when he signed up for the 2012 race, but unfortunately, Pat Moon had to give up his dream to cross the finish line in Nome when his dog team was only 7 strong as he pulled into the Ruby checkpoint.

Dropping out of the race in Ruby had an unexpected silver lining. Indeed, later in the day, Pat was hailed a hero when he saved the life of an injured villager who had crashed his sled into a parked snowmachine. Pat provided much needed medical help as the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) was unavailable at that time.

The family of the injured villager had requested that the media respect their privacy and therefore do not try to contact them...

Musher Pat Moon is from Chicago Illinois. At age 33, he decided to tackle the last Great Race on Earth. He left the bustling city of Chicago to conquer the frozen expanses of Alaska. Although a 1000 mile race in the wilderness would intimidate most people, Pat is not daunted a bit. In fact he is a real fighter: he has been battling an auto immune disease for more than half of his life.

Unfortunately, Pat had to scratch from the race near the checkpoint of Rainy Pass after a crash with his sled. We hope to see Pat compete again in the 2011 Iditarod.

Pat Moon on the first day of the Iditarod, at the ceremonial race start in Anchorage.