In 1985, he broke his hand running into a tree. He taped it up and finished the race.

In 1993, he organized and led a procession of 17 mushers, who had been trapped by weather in White Mountain, under the burled arch in Nome.

In 1995, he stopped a charging moose with an explosive shot fired from a flare pistol.

Just about everything that could happen, all right. Everything except winning. Austin has run in 18 Iditarods. He has finished in the top 10 six times. His best finish was a third in 1982.

On the other hand, he did help save another musher's life. In 1989, Austin was running among the rookies in about the middle of the pack when they came upon musher Mike Madden, sick and delirious. They kept him warm and fed him, but he didn't get better. They were a long way from the help Madden needed. So Austin and another musher raced to the nearest town, returning with a helicopter that evacuated Madden to the hospital. Then Austin mushed Madden's team the 30 miles to town. He finished just out of the money that year, but won the sportsmanship award for the second time.

''How often the name Austin comes up in the mushing community and during races,'' wrote reader Stan Smith. ''Someone needed a ride, rescue a team/driver, lost their headlamp, sunglasses? Jerry was always there to assist.''

Jerry Austin may never have won the Iditarod, but over a long career he has won the respect of his fellow mushers and the admiration of fans. As reader Linda Morning wrote, ''Maybe they should just call him the 'Official Guardian Angel' of the Iditarod.''

Jerry's commitment to people and the incredible endurance of long distance dog sled racing, is reflected in his guiding and commitment to his clients success on their Alaska hunting trip.