The History of the Iditarod
In the early 1920’s settlers had come to Alaska in search for the precious metal: the “Gold Rush” had started. They travelled by boat and arrived in the coastal towns of Seward and Knik and moved on into the Interior. Their trail they used is today known as “The Iditarod Trail”. In the beginning mail was carried across the Iditarod Trail. In the winter small villages in the Alaskan wilderness were being supplied by dogsled with mail and goods.
Seward, the only ice free harbour in the winter, is the official start of this trail. There the mail and supplies arrived by boat and a relay of mushers brought it into the interior of the state. Each musher was responsible for his part of the trail. They braved the most severe weather conditions to get those letters to their destination and warm the hearts of many people.
Nome was one of those desolate villages, up North at the Bering Sea coastline. It was founded in the late 1800’s when gold was discovered on its coasts.. In 1925 Nome’s inhabitants were in extreme danger when a diphteria outbreak threatened it’s children. No antiserum was on hand and neither airplanes, snow mobiles nor boats could supply the city of Nome. To save Nome part of the Iditarod Trail was used to transport the serum by dogsled. A relay of twenty mushers was organised; many young men risked their lives to save Nome’s children from suffocation.
Throughout the years mushing started to disappear. People began to go back to where they had come from and suddenly there was less travel on the Iditarod Trail. Airplanes and snow mobiles made the need for land travel by dogteam less. The first Iditarod race ran to Nome in 1973. Dorothy Page, chairman of the Wasilla-Knik Centennial and Joe Redington, Sr., a musher from the Knik area, organised this race to honour the sled dog as working animals and the important part they played in Alaska’s history. Twenty dogs, one musher and 1049 miles of frozen nature. Back in the day there were only a few checkpoints and a there was hardly a trail at all. Twenty days later the first musher arrived in Nome. It took the last musher thirty-two days to finish.
The Iditarod Today
Meanwhile the Iditarod has become Alaska mayor sporting event and receives worldwide attention. National television stations in the US report live on this event. Winners become legends.
The first Saturday of March about 85 teams gather in downtown Anchorage. There, the ceremonial start takes place: sponsors and fans are introduced to all competing teams. In Eagle River the dogs are loaded into dog trucks and taken home for the night. The restart is in Wasilla the next day.
Nowadays mushers take off with 16-dog teams and pass through 26 checkpoints along the way, about 20 to 100 miles apart. Mushers fly their stuff ahead to these checkpoints and restock every time. Exhausted dogs can be dropped in those checkpoints where they get the best vet care. Afterwards they are flown back to Anchorage.
On average we will run for six hours and rest for six hours. Unlike Formula 1-races the musher doesn’t have a pitstop crew. You have to do everything yourself: provide your dogs with nice straw to sleep on, give them a nice, hot meal, take off their booties, take care off their feet and muscles etc… The more efficient your system is the more you sleep.
A few days before the race the “Trailbreakers” mark the trail. This team of snowmachiners put up wooden markers with reflectors, about 100 yards apart. Depending on weather conditions parts of this trail will disappear. Each year several mushers get lost. Use of a GPS is not allowed…
Up untill today more people have successfully climbed Mount Everest or been in outher space than there are Iditarod finishers. Last year more than 20% of the participants scratched. Broken ribs or hands, frozen hands or eyes, sleds broken into shivers or a broken moral, etc … These are only a few examples of why people drop out of the race.
Our Passion
Mushing is indescribable. It’s a team sport: you have sixteen incredible dogs who love to run and have a lot of power. You as a musher are their coach. You have to direct that immens power, learn how to control it. It’s magical to see that happen. On top of that you’re a mechanic, masseur, vet, nutritionist and strategist. This complexity makes this sport even more fascinating. The connection between a musher and his dogs is one of a kind. There are few other ways to have a similar connection with dogs and to understand them. Being out there with your dogs for two weeks is a unique situation.
The intensity of this sport combined with being surrounded by breathtaking, unspoilt nature makes this an unforgettable experience.
What's on our Menu ?
Task 1: training
Together we are responsible for 38 dogs. In the beginning of October we will start their five month long training. Out of that group of 38 we will pick the best 32. In the Fall, we ‘ll use fourwheelers and hook up 16 dogs at a time. That way we’ll take them on their initial 5 to 7 mile runs. Slowly we will build them up. On snow they will be trained up to 80 miles a day! Before the race our dogs will have close to 1,700 miles on them. Of course we have to train ourselves: every other day we’ll go running and learn how to survive in the cold.
Task 2: qualification
You can only participate in the Iditarod after finishing two big races: a 200 and a 300 miler. If we are able to finish those, the Iditarod committee assumes you are capable of taking care of yourself and your dogs.
Task 3: find sponsors
This adventure will demand the best of us. Our six month long preparation and training efforts will help us achieve our goal, but we can only make it with your support. Sponsors who want to be part of this remarkable project can find all information in this file (in Dutch).
Task 4: the race
To cross 1,100 miles of ruthless wilderness, representing our country! Untill today only 651 people succeeded.
Links
More about the Iditarod
More about this kennel