1. Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
The Last Great Race
Anchorage from above

2. Race Basics Anchorage to Nome* 1 human,16 dogs 1049** miles
28 checkpoints
Nome looking SE over Bering Sea

3. The Gold Rush http://www.anchorage.ak.blm.gov/inht3.html

4. Serum run of 1925
Years 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.

5. Race Beginnings
In 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".

6. The Trail
Even Year Trail Odd Year Trail Trail*

7. 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.

8. Dog Sled or Sled Dogs
Dogs 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

9. General Requirements Arctic Parka Heavy Sleeping Bag Ax Snowshoes
Musher Food
Dog Food
Cooker and Fuel
Dog Booties
Vet Log

10. Logos
Original design by Alaskan Artist Bil DeVine

11. The Merchandising

12. Meet the Mushers Jessica Hendricks Charlie Boulding Martin Busser
Tyrell Seavey
Dee Dee Jonrowe

14. 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

15. Other Iditarod Activities
Follow along with a leader board
I-Did-a-What
Create a Race
Excel dog food graphs
Pan for gold
Mushing around the school
Iditarod Number Puzzle

16. Community Service Make dog biscuits for local animal shelter
Collect newspaper or food
Adopt a musher
Make booties
Reader’s theater for younger grades

17. Research both sides of the issue; get the facts
Alternate Activity
1st
Research both sides of the issue; get the facts
Develop an ad campaign to promote animal welfare with each of the components of the race project
Animal regulation; Laws protecting animal rights
Overpopulation; spay & neuter programs
Vaccination policies

18. Further Reading Children’s Books Danger the Yard Cat Storm Run
by Libby Riddles
Storm Run
One Second to Glory
by Lew Freedman
Togo
by Robert J. Blake
Spirit of the Wind
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

19. Math Problem solving with compare food prices map distances mph
conversions of distances
calculate weights of food needed
cost to musher to prepare
cost v. purses

20. Science Insulation experiments Weather Aurora Borealis Technology
Build a parka with bubble wrap
Insulation factors of various materials
Weather
Wind chill
Storm tracker
Aurora Borealis
Technology
Northern Lights Photo warp

21. 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

22. And Remember…
If you’re not the lead dog, the scenery never changes.