With the Iditarod only taking place once a year, animal lovers need to find other events to sate their appetite for gruelling adventure during the 11 month wait for the next Last Great race.

While some may enter the Yukon Quest or go to British meetings such as the Siberian Husky Club of Great Britain’s Aviemore rally, Jane Faulkner decided to tackle a race with a completely different animal over the weekend.

The nurse took part in the 2010 Bald Mountain Butt Buster Competitive Trail Ride, an endurance race using horses.

She told the Anchorage Daily News that she raced on a horse she rescued in 1994.

“I like long distances. I may not be fast, but I get there eventually,” said the Iditarod star, who finished 53 out of 55 in this year’s Last Great Race.

Ms Faulkner is not believed to have signed up for next year’s Iditarod, although she has plenty of time to put herself forward.

Four-time winner Lance Mackey, along with regular contenders Hugh Neff and Hans Gatt, have already put pen to paper as they bid to cross the finish line in first place in Nome in March 2011.