What is the history of the Iditarod dog sled race?
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race carries on the racing tradition started in those early days. It commemorates those intrepid mushers (including Seppala) and their dogs, who fought through blizzard conditions to bring a life-saving diphtheria serum to Nome in 1925.
Who started the Iditarod dog sled race?
Joe Redington, Sr.
For Joe Redington, Sr., often remembered as the “Father of the Iditarod” and his two closest founder partners, Tom Johnson and Gleo Huyck. both mushers and teachers, there were two most important reasons for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
What is Iditarod for kids?
The Iditarod is the world’s most famous dog sled race. It is an annual race that starts on the first Saturday of March in Anchorage, Alaska and ends in Nome, Alaska. The annual race crosses the Alaska Range and Kuskokwim Mountains range. The contestants in the race go northwest from Anchorage.
When was the first Iditarod dog sled race?
March 3, 1973
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race/First event date
What historical event does the Iditarod honor?
These two factors led Joe to work to establish The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race®, contrary to information stating that the Iditarod commemorates the delivery of diphtheria antitoxin to Nome in 1925. That event of 1925 is honored by a different sled dog race, the Serum Run, a race Joe helped establish.
What event inspired the first Iditarod dog sled race?
Look back at the 1925 life-or-death mission that inspired the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The children of Nome were dying in January 1925. Infected with diphtheria, they wheezed and gasped for air, and every day brought a new case of the lethal respiratory disease.
What does the word Iditarod mean?
distant place
It means distant place.” James Kari, Assistant Professor, University of Alaska Native Language Center in 1979 stated: “The name Iditarod came from an Ingalik and Holikachuk word hidedhod for the Iditarod River. This name means distant or distant place.
Who was known as the mother of the Iditarod and why?
Dorothy G. Page
Dorothy G. Page (January 23, 1921 – November 16, 1989) was best known as “Mother of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race”, the 1,049-mile (about 1,600 km) dog sled race across the U.S. state of Alaska. Page moved from New Mexico to Alaska in 1960.
What are sled dogs for kids?
From Academic Kids Sled dogs, known also as sleigh dogs, sledge dogs or sleddogs are dogs that are used to pull a wheel-less vehicle on runners (a sled or sleigh) over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines.
What does Iditarod mean?
Why are dogs used for sledding?
Their thick fur and padded paws made them well-designed to survive and thrive in the cold and snow. Because of this, dogs have had a huge hand in helping shape life in the far north. One of the most iconic ways people have worked with dogs to establish life in the Arctic Circle is dog sledding.
Why did the journey to Nome had to be covered through dog sled?
BecauseThe sled dog was the primary means of transportation and communication in subarctic communities around the world, and the race became both the last great hurrah and the most famous event in the history of mushing, before the first aircraft in the late 1920s and then the snowmobile in the 1960s drove the dog sled …
What is the prize for winning the Iditarod race?
The Iditarod has announced the official breakdown of its $500,000 race purse by finishing position. The prize money is based on the 39 finishers. Finishers 21-39 were given $1,049 .
Who started the Iditarod race?
Iditarod race founder and musher Joe Redington, Sr., created the long-distance race named after the trail to keep Alaska dogsledding alive and to help the Iditarod Trail become recognized as a historic trail.
What are the breeds of sled dogs?
Traditional sled dog breeds include the Siberian Husky, the Alaskan Malamute , the Chinook, the Sakhalin Husky , the Canadian Eskimo Dog, the Seppala Siberian sled dog, the Tamaskan Husky, the Samoyed , the Eurohound, the Mackenzie River Husky and the Greenland Dog . Though these dogs were bred for a purpose, many other breeds have been used as well.
What is the name of the famous Iditarod dog?
The most famous sled dog race is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, an annual 1000-mile competition in Alaska. It commemorates the 1925 serum run to Nome but was not begun until 1973. The Iditarod helped restart worldwide interest in mushing, which had been thought of as anachronistic after the spread of snowmobiles.