The Last Great Race The Iditarod

1
The Last Great RaceThe Iditarod
1973-2006 and running It begins on
March 4th, 2006
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Alaska Facts

• Russians first discovered Alaska in 1741
• Alaska is 615,373 square miles in land and water
• The state of Rhode Island could fit in Alaska 425
  times and Texas could fit in twice
• The color of the state flower is sky blue and has
  a yellow center.

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Augustine

• Augustine is a young active volcano
• Augustine sends great waves to South Central
  Alaska.
• The volcano collapsed 350 years ago
• This sloppy behavior, in the middle of a major
  shipping corridor, makes Augustine exceptionally
  dangerous.

4
Mt. McKinley

• It is 20,320 feet tall
• The best months to climb it would be April, May
  and June
• The difficulties are Major Mountain Expedition

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Names of Inuits

• Do not consider themselves Indians
• Inuit means the people
• Eskimo means eater of raw meat (Didnt want to
  be called that)

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Hunters and Vegetation

• Inuits were hunters and fisherman
• Hunted whales, walruses, and caribou
• Little edible vegetation so they ate seaweed

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Clothes and Homes

• Made their clothes from animal skins
• Boots made from caribou or sealskin
• Homes were made from snow and ice (igloo)

8
Serum Run

• Known as the great Race of Mercy
• The town of Nome was struck by diphtheria
• Dr. Welch had enough medicine for five people

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Diphtheria

• Very rare in the U.S
• Very contagious disease
• Attacks throat and nose and your nerves

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Leonard Seppala

• Ran the serum run the most
• Delivered the medicine
• Has a famous dog named Togo

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Joe Reddington

• Called Father Iditarod
• Finished 5th 1988
• Musher since World War 2
• Born in Oklahoma
• Born February 1, 1917
• Was in the air force
• Restarts race in Wasilla because thats his home
  town
• Was the oldest racer to ever race in the Iditarod
• Hes 71 and still alive

12
Dorothy Page

• She first thought of the idea of the Iditarod.
• She was convinced that sled dog teams couldt sled
  were motorized vehicle could not go.
• She is considered the
• Mother of the Iditarod

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Basic Health

• The sled dog lifestyle is perfect for a long
  living life of 17 years.
• Another good reason is because some mixed
  breeds, and have long fur.
• If a dog is hurt the hole entire team has to slow
  down.

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Health For The Dogs on The Trail

• The dogs need booties to protect there feet from
  ice, rocks, and other hazards.
• Unhealthy dogs get pulled from the race.
• Musher's keep a close eye on the dogs health on
  and off the track.

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DOGS HEALTH

• The safety of the dog health is in the musher's
  and the vets job.
• The dog must go under a complete examination for
  steroids.
• 128 booties for the dogs
• feet

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Dog Things

• Raw Meat
• Straw to sleep in
• Microchipping

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Equipment a Musher Needs
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Dog Food For the Iditarod

• Beef, horse, lamb, fish
• Seal, moose, and other wild game
• They eat a half pound of meat and half pound of
  fat

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Food for Musher's on the Iditarod

• Ravioli with spicy sauce and Italian sausage.
• Banana bread
• Pizza
• Desert bars and cupcakes
• Reese Sticks Candy Bars
• Ritz Crackers and cheese
• Beef Jerky
• Trail Mix
• Granola Bars

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Other Equipment

• Snow shoes
• Sleeping bag 5 lib.
• Proper cooker that can hold three gallons
• First aid kit
• Warm clothing
• Sharp knife
• Veterinarian notebook
• A loaded pistol
• booties
• snow hook
• ice hook
• Material approved by the ITC
• A light

21
Dog Sled Gear

• Booties
• Vaseline
• Blankets

22
Lead Dogs

• Intelligent
• Has to be enthusiastic
• about running
• Runs in front
• Fast
• Think for itself

23
Swing Dogs

• Runs behind leader
• Helps the team turn the sled
• Right and left swing dogs

24
Wheel Dogs

• In front of sled
• Strong
• Pulls sled around trees and corners
• Last dog from the front

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On The Run

• Harnesses
• Gang line
• Collars

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Checkpoint 1 in Anchorage

• Anchorage is the ceremonial start for the
  Iditarod
• The race formally starts in Wasilla
• The start in Anchorage is always on the first
  Saturday of March
• In Anchorage the mushers are aloud a handler,
  which is somebody who helps with dogs at
  Anchorage
• In Anchorage the mushers are also aloud an
  Iditarider, which is somebody who has purchased a
  chance to ride in the sled at the beginning of
  the race in Anchorage

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Checkpoint 2 in Eagle River

• After the mushers are done in Anchorage, they
  drop off their dogs in Eagle River
• From Anchorage to Eagle River is about 20 miles

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Checkpoint 3 in Wasilla

• Wasilla is where the race formally starts
• From Eagle River to Wasilla is about 29 miles
• They start leaving Wasilla on Sunday
• The mushers water the dogs early in the morning
  so they dont get dehydrated in Wasilla

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Veterinarians

• Put ointment on dogs
• Use lots of medicine
• Screen for steroids

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Medication

• They use vitamin E
• Dont use steroids
• draw blood from the dogs neck

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Photo Gallery
A friendly checkup
Puppy on a scale
Friend comes to visit
Eye check
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Knik

• 14th mile in the race
• Six to fourteen degrees in winter
• Mushing center of the world
• The last time the mushers will see their family
  until Nome
• Mushers only stay for about five minutes

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Yentna

• 66 mile of the race
• 52 miles long
• The trail is on the Yentna River
• Musher strategy starts here

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Skwentna

• 32 miles from Yentna
• Flat land
• Runs downs lakes and rivers
• So many planes fly over the checkpoint mushers
  set up camp a few miles north

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Iditarod Bush Pilots
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Bush Pilot Facts About their Job

• 100 an hour to put their planes in the air
• They do it, they say, because they love the race
  and they live to fly
• The volunteer pilots of the Iditarod Air Force
  are roadies on a trek without roads, chewing
  through rough winds and winter storms in Cessnas
  to lay track for The Last Great Race.
• As teams start the push to Nome this weekend,
  pilots will leapfrog between checkpoints, hauling
  veterinarians and volunteers, and later
  transporting dogs that are out of the running.

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Other Facts

• 36 pilots
• Jobs pick up injured teams and take them back to
  Anchorage, make emergency runs to pick up
  mushers, and they carry supplies

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Equipment Needed on Airplane

• Tundra tires
• Floats
• Skies
• Duct tape
• Personal needs

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Finger Lake

• Right before Rainy Pass
• Mushers camp a little outside of the checkpoint
• Never the same
• 45 miles from last checkpoint
• 6 checkpoint

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Rainy Pass

• Spectacular place
• Few miles from actual pass
• 30 miles from last checkpoint
• 7 checkpoint

41
Rohn Roadhouse

• 0-population
• Solitary cabin
• Not much snow
• Very rough trail
• 48 miles from last checkpoint
• 8 checkpoint

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Equipment to Send to Checkpoints

• Booties
• Clothing
• Batteries
• Ropes
• Straw
• Dog food
• Tools
• Musher food

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Nikolai

• Is 400 miles from the start
• Mushers like to spend 8 hours in Nikolai
• Is 52 miles from Nikolai to McGrath
• Population 125
• Miles From Last Checkpoint 93

• Miles From Anchor-age 325
• Miles To Nome 760

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McGrath

• Miles to Nome 712
• Miles from Anchorage 400 miles
• Miles from last checkpoint 48 miles
• Population 466

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Takotna

• Population 51
• Miles from Anchorage 418
• Miles to Nome 694
• Miles from last checkpoint 22

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Checkpoint 11 Ophir
Ophir is 25 miles from the last checkpoint.It a
small cabin in the middle of a gold mining area.
There are Northern and Southern routes. There is
a creek with loaded with moose on a mining road.
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Gary Paulsen

• Hes an author
• Born in May 1939
• Born in Minnesota
• He has 22 dogs
• Began mushing in 1979
• 1985 he scratched
• He withdrew in 2005
• He scratched in 2006
• Had over thirteen jobs
• Made over 88 books

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Libby Riddle

• First Woman to win Iditarod
• Born April 1, 1956
• Has 50 dogs

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Checkpoint 12 Cripple Creek
Cripple Creek is 59 miles from the last
checkpoint. It is in a very remote area. It has
an extremely low temperature. Hard to know the
position of a team. It is loaded with trees. No
spectators.
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Checkpoint 13 Ruby
Ruby is 112 miles from the last checkpoint. It is
an excellent cut trail by snowmobiles. Follows a
straight line down the Yukon. Easy to lose trail.
Mushers give dogs eight hour rest.
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Galena

• Population is 527
• Checkpoint is at the old community hall
• 667 miles from Anchorage
• 445 miles to Nome
• Hometown to 1974 winner Carl Huntington
• 1925 diphtheria Serum Run musher Edgar Nollner

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Susan Butcher

• Born Boston, Massachusetts
• Not in Iditarod this year because of cancer
• Won 1986, 1987 and 1988

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Libby Riddle Susan Butcher

• They both ran the Iditarod
• They both love dogs
• They both are women

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Nulato

• Population 359
• Miles from Anchorage 719
• Miles to Nome 351
• Is an Athabascan Village founded by Russian fur
  trader in 1938

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Kaltag

• Population 234
• Miles from last checkpoint 42
• Miles from Anchorage 771
• Miles to Nome 351
• Northern and southern routes join in Kaltag

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Checkpoint 19- Unalakleet, Alaska

• Largest village on the Iditarod trail
• Two stores and two restaurants
• Trail follows the coastline through tundras and
  hills
• Expects storms and strong winds

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Checkpoint 20-Shaktoolik

• Most windiest checkpoint
• Across short grass, tundras and wind packed
  sandbars
• Many cabins

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Checkpoint 21-Koyuk

• Its a village
• Frame house on hillside
• Trail goes on ice but follows the shore
• Many animals

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Elim

• The absolute worst thing to do is leave Elim
  when the dogs are not ready
• Next checkpoint is 28 more miles
• It is the forth to last checkpoint

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Golovin

• There is no dropping dogs or food
• All mushers have to sine in at this checkpoint
  to prove they took the trail

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White Mountain

• White mountain is the last stop for most of the
  mushers
• White Mountain to safety is 55 miles
• There is 77 more miles to Nome

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Checkpoint 22 Safety

• 1,129 miles away from starting point
• The last checkpoint before Nome
• It is just 22 miles from the finish line
• So the Mushers are on a the coast of the Bearing
  Sea

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The Final Stop Nome!

• Had gold in Anvil Creek
• Name Nome might mean Norway
• Fires in 1900,1905,1934, 1945,and 1974
• Nome became the ending point for the Iditarod
• White Mountain to Nome is most dangerous part of
  the trail

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Burled Arch Traditions

• They lit a kerosene lamp to show where the trail
  was.
• The light was kept lit until the musher's reached
  their destination safely.

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Awards

• First place winner gets new pickup truck and
  68,000 and the top 30 winners 1,049

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Golden Harness

• Given to winners lead dog

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The Red Lantern

• Given to the last place winner

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Iditarod Statistics For The Total To Sign Up

• 83 Mushers
• 20 Rookies
• 63 Veterans Total
• To Sign up-105
• To Withdraw-22
• 66 Males (before people withdrew)
• 17 Females (before people withdrew)

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• Burled Arch is an arch in Nome that holds a red
  lantern.
• They light the widows lamp the first Sunday in
  March at 1000 a.m.

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Total From Alaska and Other Countries

• 51 Total from Alaska
• 41 Veterans from Alaska
• 10 Rookies from Alaska
• 41 Males from Alaska
• 9 Females from Alaska
• 9 Total from other countries
• 5 Veterans from Other Countries
• 4 Rookies from Other Countries
• 7 Males from Other Countries
• 2 Females from Other Countries

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Total From U.S.A

• 23 total to sign up
• 17 Veterans
• 6 Rookies
• 18 Males
• 6 Females

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The Last Great RaceThe Iditarod
There are 53 mushers in the race