Gabe Dunham with Iditarider/Teacher on the Trail Kelly Villar, 2020. Photo Credit: Terrie Hanke.

“Just to run that race takes a tough and hardy breed.” As an educator who weaves the Iditarod into my classroom regularly, I often fail to recognize the similarities in teachers and mushers… I’m too busy admiring their athleticism and adaptability to extreme conditions. But have you ever thought about the resilience required for an educator and a musher? Although the situations and environment are completely different, the need to be resilient is similar, which makes teachers tough and hardy, too! If you have not yet heard “The Iditarod Trail Song” by Hobo Jim, you should and you should share it with your students! 

HAVE YOU HEARD __ There are numerous aspects of the Iditarod race that are different now than when the race first started. Last year Dallas Seavey finished the race with a time of  9d 2h 16m 8s. Dallas finished in first place with an earlier time in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2021, but his time in 2024 is a good starting place for students, especially if they followed the race last year. It’s fairly safe to say that there were hiccups the first year of the race in 1973, so let’s compare Dallas’s time last year with the second year of the race. In 1974 Carl Huntington finished with a time of 20d 15h 1m 7s. This is a great way to start a conversation with students. Why did it take mushers so much longer to complete the same trail in the early days? A few big topics are the weight of the dog sleds, size of the dogs, number of volunteers, products available at the time, warmth of the gear, etc. When I asked my daughter Kinzie, who is 10 years old, what her thoughts were on the wide range of finish times, she assumed it was because of better navigation systems, dogs adapting to the trail conditions over time, and the fact that mushers can study the history of the race and other musher’s race strategies. She’s not far off! But there are so many other reasons that the race has progressed to where it is now. Students could work in small groups to research a topic, compare/contrast how that topic has changed within the race over the years, then use a jigsaw learning strategy to share their findings with the class.

OCTOBER TRAINING __ Most mushers are using ATVs to train this month, which is often referred to as “dry land training” until the snow arrives. 2025 Iditarod rookie musher Jenny Roddewig said that dry land training is super important and more complex, which is part of the reason why it’s one of her favorite times of the year! Jenny shared the following interesting and important information. “For the dogs to be in shape to run 1000 miles in March, we have to start training them before there is snow. But dryland training has importance beyond just being early season training. It can be thought of like weight lifting like human athletes do as part of their training program. The ATV is much heavier than a dog sled and pulling wheels across dirt is more of a workout than pulling the thin skis of a sled across snow. This is super important for building the dog’s core muscles and strengthening their joints. This kind of weight and resistance is hard to impossible to replicate on snow with a dog sled, so this muscle strengthening period before we get into sled training is so important as a foundation for the dogs when we do get snow. This strength training also significantly reduces the occurrence of injuries and strains later in the season, especially injuries involving the joints and the core muscles supporting those joints.”

Gabe Dunham, veteran Iditarod musher and owner/racer of Evermore Adventures noted that she is working on developing leaders this month since she has the true stopping power of the ATV. She said “the dogs typically run 4-5 days/week. Their runs are progressive- meaning once they feel good at accomplishing a certain distance, I will add more miles on the next run. The distance is weather dependent. Last night (October 10th) was 43°. That’s a little warm so we only ran 14 miles. If it had been cooler, there’s a good chance they would have run 18mi. 

By the end of October I would expect the team to be running 30 miles pretty easily. I have to hold at this distance until there is good snow or we travel to better trails.”

VIBRANT VOLUNTEERS __ Over 1,500 volunteers are needed each year to work the many different positions that support the Iditarod race. This month I am highlighting a volunteer opportunity that falls under dog care and medical support: veterinarians. According to the website, the volunteer must be a licensed veterinarian and would participate in pre-race dog examinations, be stationed at each race checkpoint to evaluate dogs running the race and care for those dogs that may be discontinuing from the race (“Return Dog”).

Former Iditarod Head Veterinarian, Dr. Stuart Nelson, wrote an article a few years ago detailing the process of becoming a volunteer veterinarian. In the article Dr. Nelson specifies, “Several criteria have been utilized for picking ‘trail vets’. Previous canine medical and surgical experience is very important, with five years of work in a clinical environment being considered minimal. Although some disorders are rather unique to sled dogs, one must be prepared to address all types of conditions that might develop. A broad based medical and surgical background is vital when taking into account that close to one-thousand dogs are traveling over eleven hundred miles during a ten to fifteen day period. Anything can happen, just as in other large populations of animals. Previous knowledge of and work with racing sled dogs is a prerequisite. We all know the value of experience in any specialized endeavor.” 

Iditarod Trail on the windows. Photo Credit: M. Hamilton

AT MY SCHOOL __ The fifth graders at my school have finished their design ideas for my Teacher on the Trail™ patch. Each student worked hard during their art class to design a patch that met all of my requirements. There were so many fantastic designs! I wasn’t able to choose only one, so I am currently combining 7 different designs into one overall patch design on Canva that will be a perfect representation of myself and my school. Stay tuned for the final product!

Using expo markers, I draw the race trail across the windows in my classroom every year. Students use the trail to move their selected musher down the trail once the race starts. I decided to draw the trail on my windows a few months early this year. Students are becoming familiar with the trail and checkpoint names in October.

Let’s connect! I can be reached through email at emailtheteacher@iditarod.com. I look forward to hearing from you!