|
|
|
Last
Updated: Feb 4th, 2009 - 13:59:29 |
It’s called “The Last Great Race on Earth.” A grueling, two-week trek across unforgiving terrain, through icy temperatures, it is the Iditarod – an eleven hundred mile race across Alaska.
Every year, on the first Saturday in March some 70 teams – made up of one musher and 15 dogs on average -- compete for a share of the $400,000 purse. The top 20 finishers will be awarded $1,049 and $50,000 goes to the team that finishes first. The Iditarod Trail measures more than 1,150 miles and the race usually lasts up to two weeks, depending on the ability of the teams and the trail they take. It is the longest dog sled race in the world.
In downtown Anchorage, the starting point of the Iditarod since 1983, racers sign in and begin the long race at two minute intervals starting at 10 a.m. There are 27 checkpoints along the trail, where 2,500 pounds of dog food per team have been distributed. There are two routes to the trail – a northern and a southern route – which racers alternate every other year. The race ends on the western shores of Alaska in Nome where thousands of spectators gather to watch the teams cross the finish line. The largest number of mushers to finish the race was 63 in 1992.
The registration fee for the Iditarod is $1,750. This year’s race will begin on Saturday, March 5 and continue for at least nine days – the shortest amount of time in which any musher has ever finished. Most racers are Alaskan but mushers from 20 states and around the world will compete. All have different tactics for feeding and snacking their dogs over the course of the race and some even prefer to race at night. The rules of the race lay down certain guidelines that each musher must follow. The list of required equipment includes an arctic parka, a heavy sleeping bag, an ax, snowshoes, musher food and enough dog food for the entire team. In addition, each dog must wear special boots to protect against cuts on the icy terrain.
The Iditarod Trail, today a national landmark, was established during the gold rush when dogsledding was the only means of transportation across the rough and icy Alaskan landscape to the gold-rich Yukon. In 1925 the trail became a lifeline when a diphtheria epidemic hit Nome and dog sleds were essential in getting medicine and supplies to the isolated city. Then, in the 1960s, after air travel and snowmobiles had long since replaced dog-sledding as the major mode of transportation across the state, Dorothy G. Page – intrigued by the idea that dog sled teams could cross land not accessible by automobile – sought to restore the importance of working sled dogs in Alaskan history and brought the idea of a race across the Iditarod Trail to Joe Redington, Sr. of Knik, Alaska.
Dorothy Page and the Redingtons began promoting the race until finally, the Aurora Dog Mushers Club and men from the Adult Camp in Sutton, AK began clearing wild growth from the first nine miles of the trail. The first short Iditarod race took place in 1967 with a $25,000 purse, which went to dog sledding newcomer, Isaac Okleasik of Teller, AK.
The present-day race, a much longer and more grueling fete, brings with it a list of regulations pertaining to proper treatment and care of the dog teams. For more information about the treatment and care of the dogs on the team, please visit the following websites:
Each team must be made up of a minimum of 12 dogs but must not exceed 16. There is only one musher per team and at least five dogs must be remaining on the towline at the finish of the race. Only dog teams with drivers are qualified finishers. Because of their adaptability to the cold, Alaskan climate, most sledding dogs are Alaskan Huskies. However, any Northern breed suitable for Arctic travel – as determined by race officials – is eligible to enter the Iditarod. Mushers must be at least 18 years of age to enter the race and the oldest musher in Iditarod history was 88-year-old Norman Vaughan, who finished the race four times and led an Antarctic expedition in the winter of 1993-94.
Today, the Iditarod is run primarily by volunteers and attracts racers from all walks of life. Some are full time mushers, but most split their dog sledding training with full-time jobs. The race has become an Alaskan tradition, attracting entrants and spectators from around the world to this frozen corner of the globe. It is the ultimate competition, pitting man and animal against Mother Nature.
Information for this article was collected from the following sources:
Top
of Page
|
|
|
|
