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The official start (ceremonial yesterday) of the 1,100 mile Iditarod

Trail Sled Dog Race was today!!



Martin Buser, a musher who has won 4 times, started even though

it was only a few days after the middle finger of his right hand

was amputated. (Apparently a table saw accident)



Rachael Scdoris, became the first legally blind musher to start the

race. She is aided by someone they call a "visual interpreter"! You

go, girl!!



Best of luck to all the mushers and their puppers!!



:yh_shamrk

A blind racer. My word I couldn't even begin to imagine doing this race with all my facilities in tack. The Dogs are amazing, they live for this race, they love every minute of it.

BRAVO TO ALL RACERS..

'gator ate my sled dog, i hate when that happens. .....mush huskies!

If they had the races in the south my dog and his friends would probably be contenders. Staffordshires are great working dogs and they pull like mad. I like to refer to them as the Huskies of the South.

GODIVAGIRL,

THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION..

Historic Iditarod

By Heather Holliday



Two-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser drives his dog team into the Rainy Pass, Alaska, checkpoint during the 25th anniversary of the Iditarod in 1997. (AP/Wide World)



The Iditarod sled-dog race is run on a trail that was originally a mail-supply route. In 1925, part of the trail became a lifesaving highway for the children who lived in Nome. A serum, or a liquid used to prevent or cure a disease, had to be delivered to the children who suffered from a deadly disease. The serum was transported successfully by a string of mushers and their dogs.

The Iditarod race is a commemoration, or an event to remember something special, of that historic event. Mushers have been running the race annually since 1973. Thirty-five mushers attempted the first race, but only 22 finished. The first Iditarod winner took 20 days to complete the race. Over the years, mushers and their dogs have gained confidence and speed. Last year, the winner completed the race in just under nine days, the fastest finish ever.

The Iditarod is sometimes called "The Last Great Race on Earth." Every year, it begins in Anchorage during the first weekend in March. Each team of 12 to 16 dogs and their mushers cover the distance to Nome in approximately 9 to 17 days. The winner's prize varies year to year. This year the reward will be $69,000 in cash, about $500 more than last year, and a new Dodge pickup valued at over $40,000.

Attached files

Godiva Girl wrote: Why do they call it Iditarod? :-2It's a ghost town at about the halfway point... formerly a gold mining

town!



GEE!! HAW!!!

lady cop wrote: 'gator ate my sled dog, i hate when that happens. .....mush huskies! Did you guys know that there are other types of dog teams? One year,

I saw a doc that showed a woman with her standard poodle team.



My signature line on another website I visit is actually "Waiting for the

first all -gsd Iditarod team"! (Hey, gsd's can do ANYTHING!!)



:yh_bigsmi

valerie wrote: Did you guys know that there are other types of dog teams? One year,

I saw a doc that showed a woman with her standard poodle team.



My signature line on another website I visit is actually "Waiting for the

first all -gsd Iditarod team"! (Hey, gsd's can do ANYTHING!!)



:yh_bigsmi
Valerie, any word on snow conditions this year. Didn't they have to call off the race a few times due to lack of snow?

What's your favorite website that tracks this race?

Supposedly the lack of a solid snow base is what caused officials to move

the start farther north by 30 miles, they've done that before in other years

and there has been talk of cancellation some years but as far as I know,

it's never actually been cancelled.

There are so many websites that I usually prowl around a bit or on rare

occasions ESPN2 will have a bit of footage on it, one site I like (except

for all the for sale stuff!) is www.cabelasiditarod.com. They give a little

history and have a leaderboard and updates. Current leader is 51 year old

Dee Dee Jonrowe. Pretty cool!



:D

valerie wrote: Supposedly the lack of a solid snow base is what caused officials to move

the start farther north by 30 miles, they've done that before in other years

and there has been talk of cancellation some years but as far as I know,

it's never actually been cancelled.

There are so many websites that I usually prowl around a bit or on rare

occasions ESPN2 will have a bit of footage on it, one site I like (except

for all the for sale stuff!) is www.cabelasiditarod.com. They give a little

history and have a leaderboard and updates. Current leader is 51 year old

Dee Dee Jonrowe. Pretty cool!



:D
Thanks for that info! I'm off to check out the website now.

I should have checked earlier:

Here is the official site: http://www.iditarod.com/

:-6

randall throwing in his two bits

(Origin - the old Spanish gold coins were broken into eght pieces (Pieces of Eight)to pay for smaller items and these became known as "bits" - today a "Bit" equals 12.5 US cents - two bits = a quarter of a dollar = twenty-five cents.)

Just thought that I should throw that in as it took me a long time to discover the origins of the term and how much it was worth.

It may surprise some of you to know that dog-sled (or is it sledge?) racing is a very active sport in Scotland over some very rough terrain.

In the summer they use "sleds" with wheels to train with and also in the winter time, if not enough snow falls.

My daughter has a neighbour in Hunters Green, Tampa, who owns a beautiful "Husky" with such lovely appealing eyes and unigue in their colouring. They steal your soul - and he has a nature to match. ONLY, he did not call it a "Husky" - I just cannot recollect the name he used.

Not far from my home there were a couple "deeply into it" and had a sort of pick up truck converted to hold the sled and eight boxes with wire mesh on the doors in which they carried their team.

I did not get to know them personally but it was obvious to all that they were enthusiasts.

They had Jack London's "Call of the Wild" on T.V. last week.

It is a pity they don't seem to show much of it on TV which - to my way of thinking - is totally dominated by "FOOTBALL" ie. the game in which you actually do kick the ball unless you happen to have "A Hand Of God".

Like Maradona - he looks a poor thing nowadays, sadly. A shadow of his former self.

P.S. We have only terrestial T.V. Five channels, so it might be shown on the many other channels which we don't receive.

Thanks for the information about saving a child's life away back in 1925 - just a few years before I was born.

God bless all.

randall

:)