BROWNVILLE, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Close to home a local Maine musher, Terry Knowles is in his element when he's on the trails. With more than 56,000 miles underneath his sled runners, he's living his passion. Knowles explained he is the alpha dog that keeps his four-legged best friends in line and together they have competed in countless races, except for the 975-mile Iditarod race.

Every year teams of dogs and mushers brave the unforgiving terrain to compete in The Last Great Race, the Iditarod, in Alaska. Now, the world's most grueling sled dog race, is coming to an end. 

Even though the race is happening thousands of miles away in Alaska, it does have a couple of connections to Maine. 
Officials said Mike Santos, Mike Ellis and Lev Shvarts all raced in Brownville and they are competing in the 2014 Iditarod.