The first couple Iditarod mushers have made it to the finish line in Nome! Joar Leifseth Ulsom won 1st place. He completed the race in 9d 12h 0m 0s.
The Iditarod is so much fun to follow! I admit that when my mom first said that we were going to follow the Iditarod for school that it didn’t sound very fun. I ended up having the most fun with it though! :)
During the Iditarod my younger brothers and I do the reading Iditarod. That is where you read a certain amount of pages based on how many miles the Iditarod is. Like when they take the northern route which is 975 miles we would read 975 pages and the same with the southern route. It is a fun, friendly competition that we enjoy doing each year. We always look forward to seeing which of us wins that.
If you have never followed the Iditarod before then I highly encourage you to do so! It starts the first Saturday in March with the ceremonial start and then the re-start is the next day.
Showing posts with label Iditarod. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iditarod. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Friday, March 17, 2017
Iditarod Fun Facts!
Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!
Over the last week and a half I have been following the Iditarod. It has been a lot of fun and I've been following it with a friend so that has made it even more fun! Well, on Tuesday the 14th, Mitch Seavey won the Iditarod. This was his 3rd win.
There are still some mushers racing, but the majority of them have finished.
Today I am going to be sharing some fun facts about the Iditarod. :)
-- During the even years they take the northern route which is 975 miles and during the odd years they take the southern route which is 998 miles. They used to only take the northern trail but after several years the Iditarod Board of Directors thought it would be best to have a southern route because the smaller villages were being heavily impacted. In taking the southern route the mushers would be able to go through the ghost town of Iditarod and other smaller villages would be able to participate in the race.
-- Each team averages 16 dogs, which means that over 1,000 dogs leave Anchorage for Nome
--There are 26 checkpoints on the northern route, the first in Anchorage and the last in Nome. On the southern route, there are 27 checkpoints.
-- In 1973 the first Iditarod was run in honor of The Great Serum Race and to save the dog sled culture and Alaskan huskies which were being phased out because of the introduction of snow mobiles. Thirty-five mushers started the race but only twenty-two finished. Dick Wilmarth was the first to finish, it took him twenty days.
-- Rick Swenson is the only five time winner of the Iditarod. His lead dog, Andy, lived for almost 20 years and led the musher’s team to victory four times. After Andy died he was stuffed and is on display at the Iditarod Headquarters. Rick Swenson’s son is named after the dog.
Rick Swenson won in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1991. He is now the only person to win the Iditarod in three different decades, a record that will probably never be broken.
--The largest number of mushers to finish a single race was in 2004. 77 mushers completed the race that year.
Over the last week and a half I have been following the Iditarod. It has been a lot of fun and I've been following it with a friend so that has made it even more fun! Well, on Tuesday the 14th, Mitch Seavey won the Iditarod. This was his 3rd win.
There are still some mushers racing, but the majority of them have finished.
Today I am going to be sharing some fun facts about the Iditarod. :)
-- During the even years they take the northern route which is 975 miles and during the odd years they take the southern route which is 998 miles. They used to only take the northern trail but after several years the Iditarod Board of Directors thought it would be best to have a southern route because the smaller villages were being heavily impacted. In taking the southern route the mushers would be able to go through the ghost town of Iditarod and other smaller villages would be able to participate in the race.
-- Each team averages 16 dogs, which means that over 1,000 dogs leave Anchorage for Nome
--There are 26 checkpoints on the northern route, the first in Anchorage and the last in Nome. On the southern route, there are 27 checkpoints.
-- In 1973 the first Iditarod was run in honor of The Great Serum Race and to save the dog sled culture and Alaskan huskies which were being phased out because of the introduction of snow mobiles. Thirty-five mushers started the race but only twenty-two finished. Dick Wilmarth was the first to finish, it took him twenty days.
-- Rick Swenson is the only five time winner of the Iditarod. His lead dog, Andy, lived for almost 20 years and led the musher’s team to victory four times. After Andy died he was stuffed and is on display at the Iditarod Headquarters. Rick Swenson’s son is named after the dog.
Rick Swenson won in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1991. He is now the only person to win the Iditarod in three different decades, a record that will probably never be broken.
--The largest number of mushers to finish a single race was in 2004. 77 mushers completed the race that year.
--The 1991 race was the coldest on record, with wind-chill temperatures falling to minus 62 degrees.
-- The closest finish was in 1978. Dick Mackey finished one second ahead of Rick Swenson. Dick Mackey’s time was 14 days, 18 hours, 52 minutes and 24 seconds. The winner was decided by the nose of the lead dog across the finish line.
-- Dallas Seavey is the youngest musher to have ever entered the Iditarod. He turned 18 on March 4, 2005, the day that the race started.
He is also the youngest musher to have won the race. His first win was in 2012 at the age of 25.
-- In the first official race, in 1973, John Schultz won the Red Lantern award, coming in at 32d 5h 9m 1s. The longest time to ever complete the race.
-- In the first official race, in 1973, John Schultz won the Red Lantern award, coming in at 32d 5h 9m 1s. The longest time to ever complete the race.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Iditarod 2017
The Iditarod is coming up really soon! I'm super excited! The ceremonial start is on Saturday, March 4th, and the re-start is on March 5th. The Iditarod is a sled dog race that takes place in Alaska each year that starts on the first Saturday of March. Last year I did a post on the history of the Iditarod. If you're interested, you can read that post here.
This will be my 6th year following the Iditarod. It is so much fun! The first year I did it was for school. My mom had my siblings and I do it. I'll admit, I thought it sounded pretty boring to follow a sled dog race. Well, I was definitely wrong! I had so much fun and I've been following the Iditarod each year since then!
Each year I always choose a couple of mushers to follow throughout the race. I check and see how they're doing through the race and everything. The Iditarod usually lasts about 11 days for everybody to finish, but the winner usually only takes about 8 days.
If you've never heard of the Iditarod or have never followed it I highly recommend that you do! To learn more about the Iditarod you can visit their website here.
This will be my 6th year following the Iditarod. It is so much fun! The first year I did it was for school. My mom had my siblings and I do it. I'll admit, I thought it sounded pretty boring to follow a sled dog race. Well, I was definitely wrong! I had so much fun and I've been following the Iditarod each year since then!
Each year I always choose a couple of mushers to follow throughout the race. I check and see how they're doing through the race and everything. The Iditarod usually lasts about 11 days for everybody to finish, but the winner usually only takes about 8 days.
If you've never heard of the Iditarod or have never followed it I highly recommend that you do! To learn more about the Iditarod you can visit their website here.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
The Reading Iditarod
3 more days until the Iditarod starts! Are you excited? I am! :)
During the Iditarod my younger brothers and I do the reading Iditarod. The reading Iditarod is where you read a certain amount of pages based on how many miles the Iditarod is. Like this year they will be taking the northern route which is 975 miles so we would read 975 pages. It is a fun, friendly competition that we enjoy doing each year. When a musher is the first to reach a certain checkpoint they get a prize, so when we get to that same checkpoint we also get a little prize. Once we finish the race we get a free book.
(Just to clarify, this is just something we do as a family. It's not something we actually sign up to do.) :)
During the Iditarod my younger brothers and I do the reading Iditarod. The reading Iditarod is where you read a certain amount of pages based on how many miles the Iditarod is. Like this year they will be taking the northern route which is 975 miles so we would read 975 pages. It is a fun, friendly competition that we enjoy doing each year. When a musher is the first to reach a certain checkpoint they get a prize, so when we get to that same checkpoint we also get a little prize. Once we finish the race we get a free book.
(Just to clarify, this is just something we do as a family. It's not something we actually sign up to do.) :)
These are the books that I chose to read this year.
Friday, February 26, 2016
The Iditarod
Each spring for the past few years I have enjoyed following the Iditarod. It is coming up next weekend so I thought I'd share a little bit about the race and how it got started.
In January of 1925 there was an epidemic of diphtheria in Nome, Alaska. They didn't have any antitoxin serum so they requested some. The nearest place to get serum was in Anchorage, one thousand miles away. It was brought by train but could only make it to Nenana because of the weather. In Nenana they put the carefully packed bottles of serum on the first of twenty sleds in a relay to Nome. Bill Shannon was the first of twenty mushers to leave on the nearly 700 mile snow-packed mail trail. This is what helped start the Iditarod.
In 1973 the first Iditarod was run in honor of The Great Serum Race and to save the dog sled culture and Alaskan huskies which were being phased out because of the introduction of snow mobiles. Thirty-five mushers started the race but only twenty-two finished. Dick Wilmarth was the first to finish, it took him twenty days.
The Iditarod starts the first Saturday in March. During the even years they take the northern route which is 975 miles and during the odd years they take the southern route which is 998 miles. They used to only take the northern trail but after several years the Iditarod Board of Directors thought it would be best to have a southern route because the smaller villages were being heavily impacted. In taking the southern route the mushers would be able to go through the ghost town of Iditarod and other smaller villages would be able to participate in the race.
It now takes the winner about nine days to complete the Iditarod. The first place winner gets a Dodge Ram, about $50,000, and a trophy. The next twenty-nine people get a percentage of the purse and everybody after that gets $1,049 and the last person to cross the finish line gets a red lantern award.
What started out as a race to bring attention to the sled teams and the Alaskan huskies is now a very popular event that a lot of people attend and even more follow on the internet or the television.
Well, I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about this fun race. If you're interested in knowing more you can visit the Iditarod website here.
In January of 1925 there was an epidemic of diphtheria in Nome, Alaska. They didn't have any antitoxin serum so they requested some. The nearest place to get serum was in Anchorage, one thousand miles away. It was brought by train but could only make it to Nenana because of the weather. In Nenana they put the carefully packed bottles of serum on the first of twenty sleds in a relay to Nome. Bill Shannon was the first of twenty mushers to leave on the nearly 700 mile snow-packed mail trail. This is what helped start the Iditarod.
In 1973 the first Iditarod was run in honor of The Great Serum Race and to save the dog sled culture and Alaskan huskies which were being phased out because of the introduction of snow mobiles. Thirty-five mushers started the race but only twenty-two finished. Dick Wilmarth was the first to finish, it took him twenty days.
The Iditarod starts the first Saturday in March. During the even years they take the northern route which is 975 miles and during the odd years they take the southern route which is 998 miles. They used to only take the northern trail but after several years the Iditarod Board of Directors thought it would be best to have a southern route because the smaller villages were being heavily impacted. In taking the southern route the mushers would be able to go through the ghost town of Iditarod and other smaller villages would be able to participate in the race.
It now takes the winner about nine days to complete the Iditarod. The first place winner gets a Dodge Ram, about $50,000, and a trophy. The next twenty-nine people get a percentage of the purse and everybody after that gets $1,049 and the last person to cross the finish line gets a red lantern award.
What started out as a race to bring attention to the sled teams and the Alaskan huskies is now a very popular event that a lot of people attend and even more follow on the internet or the television.
Well, I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about this fun race. If you're interested in knowing more you can visit the Iditarod website here.
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