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Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
The Last Great Race
Anchorage from above
Race Basics
Anchorage to Nome*1 human,16 dogs1049** miles28 checkpoints
Nome looking SE over Bering Sea
The Gold Rushhttp://www.anchorage.ak.blm.gov/inht3.html
http://gorp.com/gorp/resource/us_trail/iditarod.htm
Once used by ancient native hunters, then by Russian explorers and early 20th century gold seekers, the Iditarod Trail is actually a network of more than 2,300 miles of trails. The trail takes its name from the Athabascan Indian village near the site of a 1908 gold discovery. By 1910 a gold rush town flourished and for a time was the center of the Iditarod Mining District. Other adventurers started their travels in Nome after arriving by steamboat. There, many prospectors worked the beaches of Nome panning for gold for a time before moving south. The two end portions of the trail developed toward the center eventually meeting at the Iditarod Mining District.
Serum run of 1925Years before the birth of the Iditarod, 20 mushers teamed up for a relay race 674 miles
from Nenana to Nome to save the lives of the children of Nome. In 1925 diphtheria was diagnosed and the only serum was in Anchorage. The only two planes available were in Fairbanks and had been dismantled and stored for the winter. Many thought dog teams were the only reliable answer.
The serum left Anchorage by train headed to Nenana where the package was given to Wild Bill Shannon, the first of 20 mushers.
Near midnight, Shannon started his nine dogs on the 52-mile trip where he would hand the serum to another musher. The temperature was 35 degrees below zero. Shannon and 19 other mushers, including champion racer Leonhard Seppala got to Nome on February 2, just one week after leaving Anchorage and 127 1/2 hours from Nenana.
Balto, a lead dog owned by Seppala, was memorialized with a statue in Central Park in New York City. Seppala always felt that his lead dog, Togo, didn't get enough recognition for his effort. After Togo died, Seppala had him mounted and he is now on display at Iditarod® Headquarters in Wasilla. Balto is on display in Cleveland at the Museum of Natural History.
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF15/1531.html
Race BeginningsIn 1967, Joe Redington, Sr. joined
with Dorothy Page, an Alaskan interested in history, to celebrate dog sleds. A sled dog race was
held, and it was extended to Nome in 1973, with part of it following the old Iditarod Trail. The race became
known as the "The Last Great Race on Earth" , and Joe
Redington and Dorothy Page were known as the 'father and mother of
the Iditarod".
The Trail• Even Year Trail Odd Year Trail 2003 Trail*
1049 Miles*
• The actual race route may be as long as 1170 miles, depending on how the trail breakers set the course.
• The race is always longer than 1000 miles; the distance of 1049 was chosen because Alaska was the 49th state to join the United States.
Dog Sled or Sled DogsDogs are faster than horses over the long haul, capable of maintaining average speeds of 8-12mph an hour for hundreds of miles (including rest stops)
Can exceed twenty miles an hour or more on shorter sprints
Lighter than heavy draft animals
Can be fed with native fish and game rather than expensive hay and grain
General Requirements
• Arctic Parka• Heavy Sleeping Bag• Ax• Snowshoes• Musher Food• Dog Food • Cooker and Fuel• Dog Booties• Vet Log
Logos
• Original design by Alaskan Artist Bil DeVine
The Merchandising
Meet the Mushers
Charlie Boulding
Martin Busser
Dee Dee Jonrowe
Tyrell Seavey
Jessica Hendricks
Special Awards
• Golden Harness Award- awarded to the best lead dog as voted on by the mushers
• Sportsmanship Award• Most Inspirational Musher• Leonhard Seppala Award- given to the
musher who takes the best care of his team voted on by the veterinarians
• Red Lantern Award- Last place (but must remain competative, the Widow’s Lamp
Other Iditarod Activities
• I-Did-a-What• Create a Race• Excel dog food
graphs• Pan for gold• Mushing around the
school• Iditarod Number
Puzzle
Follow along with a leader board
Community Service
• Make dog biscuits for local animal shelter
• Collect newspaper or food
• Adopt a musher
• Make booties
• Reader’s theater for younger grades
Alternate Activity
• Develop an ad campaign to promote animal welfare with each of the components of the race project
1st
Research both sides of the issue; get the facts
Animal regulation; Laws protecting animal rights
Overpopulation; spay & neuter programs
Vaccination policies
Further ReadingChildren’s Books• Danger the Yard Cat
by Libby Riddles• Storm Run
by Libby Riddles• One Second to Glory
by Lew Freedman • Togo
by Robert J. Blake • Spirit of the Wind
by Lew Freedman • Where's the Boss
by Lois Harter • Back of the Pack
by Don Bowers
Older Readers• Murder on the Iditarod Trail
by Sue Henry • Yukon Poems of Robert Service,
Sourdough Edition• Iditarod - The Great Race to
Nome by Scherwonit/Schultz • Race Across Alaska
by Libby Riddles
Math
• compare food prices• map distances • mph• conversions of distances • calculate weights of food
needed• cost to musher to prepare• cost v. purses
Problem solving with
Science
• Insulation experiments– Build a parka with bubble
wrap– Insulation factors of various
materials
• Weather– Wind chill– Storm tracker
• Aurora Borealis• Technology
– Northern Lights Photo warp
Creative writing activities
• Northern Lights Myth• Musher biographies • “You know you’re
from Alaska when…”• Write to a musher• Daily Log (Musher
words)• Dog Stories
And Remember…
If you’re not the lead dog, the scenery never changes.