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.