Author: Jane Holmes (25 posts)


Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™ Application

The Application for the 2026 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail Will be Ready after the 2024 Race The Iditarod Teacher on the TrailTM program is a unique opportunity for one selected educator to teach beyond the traditional classroom walls via Internet and to be involved in a program that reaches students around the world during a …

Tips on Getting Started Using the Race With Students

Welcome to Iditarod!  We’d like to help you create an amazing unit of study that will engage your students in an authentic learning adventure!  Let’s get started! A rookie is someone new.   If you are new to the concept of using the race as a teaching tool, you are a rookie Iditarod teacher. You’ve come …

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race: 101 What you need to know!

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is also called the “Last Great Race on Earth®” This page gives basic answers to the 5Ws of the race – who, what, when, where, and why. Follow the posted links for a wealth of current information. And have fun learning more and sharing this with your students.   …

Race Work Continues

Iditarod 2019 is drawing to a close in Nome. Nome embraces the race in a big way. And last night was the finisher’s banquet at the Nome rec center. But it’s not only the banquet that takes coordination here. On Saturday, Dawn Ubelaker, Iditarod Nome Coordinator, had a few minutes to explain a bit about …

Alaska Air Transit

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race runs through some of the most remote parts of Alaska only accessible by airplane. Thanks to sponsor Alaska Air Transit, support for the race is much easier. Based in Anchorage and owned by Dan and Josie Owen, AAT began service to McGrath, an Iditarod transportation hub, in 2012. This …

A Message from Nikolai, “Go forward. Be happy.”

As part of his vision for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Joe Redington, Sr. wanted to celebrate the indigenous people of Alaska who had dog teams as a way of life. On the race route, Nikolai is the first native Alaskan village. An Athabascan community, Nikolai is rich in history and long in family …

Power in Numbers

And the race continues. Well, the dog sled race just started, but the race to prepare for and logistically run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race continues. Even as mushers were running with their Idita-riders from the ceremonial start Saturday, more volunteers had begun work for the re-start at Willow. Equipment had to be picked …

Iditarod Stories: The Typical Race Fan

A child. A grandfather. A family. A ski team. A lifetime Alaskan. A tourist. All of these describe fans that gathered at the Campbell Creek Tract and airstrip this morning to welcome the 2019 Iditarod mushers to the end of their ceremonial start run which started at 4th Ave. and D St. in downtown Anchorage. …

Getting Communications Ready at Anchorage Race Headquarters

Are you watching the countdown timer? In just 5 days, the Last Great Race will begin for the 47th time. And preparation continues at a frenetic but organized speed these days. Because race headquarters is based at the Lakefront Hotel during the race, much of the infrastructure can’t be set up until shortly before the …

Making Foot Ointment

The countdown timer says 12 days until Iditarod 2019 begins and every day the hands of volunteers are doing more preparation. Volunteer work can leave your hands rough and calloused, but In this case the volunteers are leaving with even softer hands than before. On Saturday, February 16, another group assembled at Iditarod headquarters in …