Maple Park girl sees the Iditarod up close

Take a self-proclaimed "country girl," her love of dogs and outdoor sports, and her love of Alaska, and you get Olivia Goodenough's dream vacation: riding in the legendary Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

But the 11-year-old Maple Park girl's maturity made the trip last week even better than planned: She was given a chance to drive a 16-dog team.

"The best part was probably getting to drive the sled. I was the only person (of 66 IditaRiders) that got to," Olivia said.

Grandfather Dennis Goodenough of Geneva had watched the Iditarod several times in the 1990s while visiting his sister in Alaska. And last July, he and his wife, Karen, took Olivia and one of her cousins to visit. Seeing how excited Olivia was over her great-aunt's dogs, an idea was hatched.

"I knew about the Iditarod race, and we just figured rather than us (riding), we'd let her do it," Goodenough said. He bought the IditaRider opportunity in an auction that raises money for the race. They also wanted to do something special for a granddaughter they consider smart, nice and helpful, he said.

The Goodenoughs flew to Alaska on Feb. 29. The next day Olivia met her musher, Colleen Robertia of Two Rivers, Alaska. "I was 10 times more excited than I was at first," Olivia said.

March 3 was the big day - the ceremonial start of the race.

"It's just a big party," Dennis Goodenough said.

The teams start in downtown Anchorage and proceed through streets and parks for 11 miles. The IditaRiders sit in the sled in "the bag," in front of the musher, where the gear normally is stowed. For the ceremonial run, another handler is pulled in back. Olivia's grandparents saw her off, then hurried to the endpoint.

"And, why, Olivia was driving!" Dennis Goodenough said.

Olivia credited that turn of events to being "calm and mature." The only time she was nervous during the ride was when they were going down hills.

"You don't have to freak out about it," she said. Robertia told her to cross her arms in front of her chest so she wouldn't break an arm if the sled tipped over and she tumbled out.

Robertia and her husband, Joseph, were impressed by Olivia.

"She was just doing so great. She really loved it," Joseph Robertia said. "We had such a good time with Olivia."

So they decided to ask her to join them at the real start the next day.

Olivia brushed the dogs' coats to relax them as they waited. Eager to run, the high-energy, mixed-breed huskies tend to get excited - jumping around and barking - at the start of the race.

Olivia was the team's "rabbit," getting the dogs to chase her to the starting chute. That was the most exciting part of the whole trip, she said.

The dullest was the Mushers' Banquet on Thursday night; Olivia fell asleep during it.

The race, about 1,000 miles, can take from eight to 15 days. Mushers are not allowed to replace dogs. As of Thursday night, Colleen Robertia had already pulled three of her dogs out. One injured a shoulder, another breathed in snow dust, and the third, a 10-year-old, "was just feeling his age," Joseph Robertia said.

Being outdoors is right up Olivia's alley; she said she is "definitely a country girl. ... I hate the city."

She loves to fish, camp, ride horses, and hunt deer and coyotes, including at her grandfather's farm in Mount Carroll.

And she loves dogs - even though she can't have one because her father is allergic to them.

"I'm an animal lover, so I was thinking maybe (becoming) a vet," Olivia said of her possible future career.

Her mother, Kim, was nervous about letting her ride and grateful for the generosity shown by Olivia's grandparents.

"We were just blown away. ... She just loves dogs so much," Kim Goodenough said.

Wild: Girl got to drive 16-dog team during ceremonial start