Alaska’s Great Race

The Iditarod

Language ArtsTeam 6-0

2009

Instructions

1. Left click the mouse to advance the slides2. Read all information on each slide 3. On the slides that have a link to the web,

follow the directions to go to the web sites4. At the site, explore the information there –

click on the X in the top right corner to return to the power point

5. Take the quiz at the end of the power point and notify the teacher when you get 100%

6. Put together the Iditerod jigsaw7. HAVE FUN!

Gary Paulsenauthor

Click on his picture to

learn more about him!

The Iditarod

You can't compare it to any other competitive event in the world! A race over 1049 miles of the roughest, most beautiful terrain Mother Nature has to offer. She throws jagged mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forests, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coast at the

mushers and their dog teams. Add to that the temperatures far below zero, winds that can cause a

complete loss of visibility, the hazards of overflow, long hours of darkness and treacherous climbs and side hills, and you have the IDITAROD! A RACE EXTRAORDINAIRE, a

race only possible in Alaska.

In 1925, a diphtheria epidemic threatened the town of Nome. The much needed serum was raced from Nenana to Nome by dog team. Twenty teams relayed the medicine 674 miles in 27.5 hours! Today this historic event is commemorated with the world famous Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The competition starts in Anchorage on the first Saturday in March. The first musher arrives in Nome approximately 9 - 17 days later. Teams continue to arrive day and night for the next week and a half.

THE ORIGIN

                             

It was decided that a relay of dog sled teams would transport the

serum between Nenana and Nome.

Click on the red lantern

The Trail

What is a musher anyway

• Someone who drives, or "mushes", a dog team is known as a musher. The word probably comes from the French word "marcher", which means "to walk".

Long distance competitive mushing takes great endurance and training for both the human and the dogs in the team. Iditarod mushers must spend many hours on the trail in order to be prepared for the difficult job of running such a long race.

Click on the musher to find out more info on mushers! Click on the musher’s names to find out

where they are from!

The Dogs

Click on the pictures to learn more about dog

sledding

Animal rights groups say the race is cruel to dogs and should be discontinued. Mushers, or the human racers, say their dogs are treated better than most animals and are bred to race.

IDITAROD FACTS AND FIGURES

Start Date: The first Saturday in March each year

Entry Fee: $1,750

Prize Money: $400,000 ($50,000 to first place)

First Race: Left Anchorage March 3, 1973. Won by Dick Wilmarth in just over 20 days.

Shortest Completed Time: 9 days, 2 hours, 42 minutes and 19 seconds in 1995 by Doug Swingley.

Closest Finish: 1978 -- after two weeks on the trail, Dick Mackey beat Rick Swenson by only one second!

Distance: 1,049 is a symbolic figure. (A thousand mile race in the 49th State.) The actual mileage is closer to 1,200 miles, depending upon the route taken. The Iditarod is the longest dog sled race in the world.

Checkpoints: There are over 20 checkpoints along the trail where mushers must sign in and where each musher's 2,500 pounds of dog food has been distributed. A veterinarian is stationed at each checkpoint to provide care to the dogs.

Age Range of Mushers: 18 to 81 years

Possible Temperature Extremes During Race: +45 ° F to -60 ° F

Race Records

           - The fastest winning time was 9 days, 2 hours, 42 minutes, and 19 seconds by Doug Swingley in 1995. The slowest winning time was 20 days, 15 hours, 2 minutes, and 7 seconds by Carl Huntington in 1974.

            - The youngest musher to complete a race was Simon Kineen in 1994 at age 18.

            - Rick Swenson has won the race 5 times, more than any other musher.

            - The longest red lantern winner took 332 days, 15 hours, 9 minutes, and 1 second.

            - The first woman to win the Iditarod was Libby Riddles in 1985.

            - The Mackeys are the only father/son pair ever to both win the Iditarod... and they both wore bib number 13. The closest finish ever was in 1978 when Dick Mackey beat Rick Swenson by one second after two weeks on the trail!

Take the quiz and test your Iditarod knowledge.

Click on the dog below to start your quiz!

After you take the quiz, remember call a teacher over to see your score. You need to get 100%. Review the information and retake it if you need to.

Did you get 100%?

Click on the stopwatch to start your puzzle!

You have just 2 minutes to put the Iditarod jigsaw back together! Tic Toc… Time’s ticking…