SALEM – In just over a year, Rachael Scdoris of Alfalfa plans to become the first legally blind musher to cross 1,150 miles of Alaskan wilderness in the Iditarod sled dog race.

Tuesday, in the considerably warmer environment of the state Capitol, the 18-year-old was recognized for her accomplishments to date during an awards ceremony by the Oregon Disabilities Commission.

”It’s a great honor,” she said after being named one of two recipients of a youth award. ”It’s exciting. Awards aren’t my goal or anything – I’m just a sled dog racer – but it’s nice to get recognition for it.”

Scdoris, who graduated from Redmond High School in June, is in training for three sled dog races this winter, one of them a qualifier for the Iditarod. She has been racing since she was 8 years old.

The board of directors for the Alaska race agreed in September to tweak the rules and allow Scdoris to use a navigator for the race. Her 12-dog team will be led by another team and rider – and that musher will act as a visual interpreter and contact her by radio to warn of any hazards.

She traveled to Alaska to lobby board members for the chance to race.

Scdoris has been diagnosed as colorblind and near-sighted with 20/200 vision, meaning she can see at 20 feet what a person with 20/20 vision can see at 200 feet.

She could qualify and then race in Alaska this spring, but plans to wait until 2005 to tackle the grueling course. ”You don’t want to go into the Iditarod exhausted,” she said.

Brian Bice, a member of the state disabilities commission, told Scdoris he was is awe of her accomplishments. ”I don’t think I’d have the courage to do what you’ve done,” he said.

Scdoris also was a distance runner in high school and counts among her inspirations Marla Runyon, the legally blind Eugene runner who was the fifth woman to cross the Boston Marathon finish line this year.

The Capitol awards ceremony offered a chance for the beleaguered Oregon Disabilities Commission – which saw state general funding erased by lawmakers this year – to showcase individuals who inspire others as well as businesses that make it possible for disabled people to work.

Sam and Nanci Di Spaltro, owners of Bend Mailing Services, were named as part of an ”Employer Honor Roll” for their efforts. Their family company provides bulk mailing services for businesses – and two of its six employees have disabilities.

Scdoris has been featured in newspaper, magazine, and television stories so many times that KOIN-TV news anchor Jeff Gianola, Tuesday’s master of ceremonies, joked that ”basically she’s been on TV more than I have.”

Speaking to the crowd after receiving the award, Scdoris said she was inspired by two fellow high school track athletes. One told her to never give up and always go for the win; and the other taught her to keep smiling because ”if you can’t do something with a smile, you shouldn’t be doing it.”

Scdoris said it’s a mistake to say people with disabilities are disabled.

”I don’t think anybody is disabled unless they allow themselves to be,” she said.

She plans to enroll in the spring at Central Oregon Community College, after the end of dog racing season.

Scdoris was accompanied Tuesday by her father, Jerry; her mother, Lisa Scdoris of Powell Butte; and grandmother Laverne Pelster of Redmond.

James Sinks can be reached at 503-566-2839 or at jamess@cyberis.net.