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Fayth Smith, 16, feeds her dogs a helping of meat water.

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Running with the big dogs

By JUSTIN HARMON/staff

At a time when many her age are worried about passing their driver’s licensing test, 16-year-old Fayth Smith is worried about preparing for the grueling cold.
The Gastonia, N.C., resident, is training for the Iditarod. For dogsledders, that 1,500-mile trek across mountains, over frozen rivers, through deep forests and through the Alaskan tundra is like the Super Bowl, Daytona 500 and World Series rolled into one.
With her eyes on that prize – that she hopes to run in 2010 – Smith was in Washington County over the weekend, guiding a group of huskies down the Virginia Creeper Trail. The event, the second time it’s been held between Abingdon and Damascus, is a re-enactment of a 1925 Serum Run to Nome, Alaska, organized by Siberian Husky Assist. The original 1925 run featured about 20 mushers carrying a diphtheria vaccine across the then territory of Alaska. It took them five days to get to Nome, sparing the population there from the epidemic.
The serum run re-enactment gives Smith and others a chance to train, she said. Smith’s mother, Tonya, said her daughter only began training in October. However, she said she’d been interested in the dog sledding world for a number of years. Balto, the lead sled dog and canine hero of the original 1925 Serum Run, became her inspiration. Fayth Smith said she learned who Balto was when she 3 years old, via a Disney film. She was instantly hooked.
Tonya Smith didn’t take her daughter’s mushing fascination too seriously, she said, until Fayth turned 15. That’s when she asked for Siberian husky of her own for her birthday.
While searching for that first dog, Fayth was also on the lookout for a way to break into the world of mushing. That first husky would be named Dominic. The way in would be named Chapin Burgess of Burgess, S.C.
“I looked on Iditarod.com and they had a list of mentors and he was the closest,” she said.
Burgess was also at Damascus this past weekend.
Tonya Smith said she and her husband, Jeff, support their daughter’s dreams. But it’s a big commitment, especially in the wallet. Gear can get downright absurd – up to $80,000 in all. Not that the price tag will deter Fayth Smith, or her mother.
“I’m on of her biggest fans and supporters … we want to make this really happen,” Tonya Smith said.
Debbie May, Fayth’s grandmother is also an avid supporter.
“We love it,” said May. “We’re fans… we try to be here for her. We want to watch.”
Some who hear Fayth Smith’s story may think she’s too young to take the race seriously, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. According to Fayth, she’s home-schooled. While others her age are taking in part in extra-curricular sports or clubs, or hanging out in parking lots and cruising Main Street, she trains.
“This is what I do in my free time. I do art late at night, so it all levels out.”
While Fayth Smith is getting a jumpstart on the Iditarod, she still has a long way to go before the race. You have to be at least 18 to run the race, and before you can even register you have to qualify in another race.
There’s also the matter of school.
“She won’t be able to do anything until school is done,” said Tonya Smith.
Well, not exactly anything. She’ll be training, running her dogs at events like Washington County’s, waiting for her big moment in the Alaskan wildnerness.
Justin Harmon can be reached at 628-7101 or