Did you know that Iditarod dogs train for about 3,000 miles before they do the 1049 miles of Iditarod? My handler has decided to experience this distance on her bike! Yup, since the snow melted, right here on the rural roads of Wisconsin, she has ridden her bike 3000 miles – that’s a lot of pedaling! And now, she’s going to go the distance of the trail – another 1049. I think it’s pretty cool that she wants to experience the miles that we sled dogs do in training for and running a race like Iditarod.

When she starts the 1049-mile virtual trail journey, we’ll keep track of where she is on the trail and what checkpoints she’s made it too. There is a huge map on the fence in the kennel. After she rides we move a little bicycle marker along the trail. And this is the best part – because she was Teacher on the Trail, she has been to all those checkpoints and villages so she tells us stories and we learn about the trail, checkpoint and the folks who live in the village and she has pictures – tons of pictures, taken along the Iditarod Trail. This is social studies and geography and math coming to life right here in our kennel! How lucky can we be? I’m going to take careful notes on what we learn so that I can share all this trail information with you. This way you’ll be knowledgeable about the trail and checkpoints as you follow the race in March. I’ll include her best pictures with each story I share. Stay tuned for the Virtual Trail Journey series.

Born to Run,

Sanka