Tails from the Trail

Junior Iditarod 2020 concluded last night and it was a great race.  Amazing weather on Saturday turned to a winter wonderland of snow, dropping over 2 feet.  With fresh snow covering the trail, it was certainly a bit slower on Sunday. The mushers began to cross the finish line at 3:00 pm.  

Nicolas Sousa was the first musher to cross the finish line at 3:03:30 pm. His total time on the trail was 28 hours, 23 minutes and 30 seconds. Nicolas not only came in first but was also received the Rookie of the Year Award.

Julia Cross was next to cross the finish line at 3:41:56 pm.  Her total time on the trail was29 hours 10 minutes and 15 seconds. Julia also was award the Sportsmanship Award.  For the Sportsmanship Award, the mushers each vote for one of their fellow mushers who they believe had great sportsmanship.  Julia’s lead dog Earhardt also received the Blue Harness Award.  

The final two mushers entered the Willow Community Center at 8:13 pm Sam Paperman, and Bjorn Keller at 10:35 pm.  All Junior mushers showed great courage and perseverance.  They were amazing to watch!

Tribute to Perseverance

What mushers do the number 13 and 6 have an important meaning to? These mushers are not Red Lantern recipients but have an awesome story and are known for their perseverance on the Iditarod Trail.  Dick Mackey and his sons Rick and Lance are all well known in the Iditarod,  Lance winning 4 consecutive Iditarods.  However, there is a great connection all of these Mackey’s have.  In 1978 Dick Mackey, wearing bib number 13, ran his sixth Iditarod and came in first. In 1983, Rick Mackey ran in his sixth Iditarod.  He wore bib number 13 and came in first!  Finally, in 2007, Lance, running in his 6th race wanted to keep this tradition going.  He camped outside Iditarod Headquarters to be the first musher to sign up for the race so he could choose his bib number first.  That year he wore bib number 13, and sure enough, he won!  

Who won the red Lantern of the 2020 Junior Iditarod?  Stay tuned….

Teachers:

Create some problem-solving using the Jr Iditarod standings site.  Here are a few examples:

A musher travels from Knik Lake to Yentna (66Miles) in 7 hours. If the musher travels the same number of miles each hour, how many miles does the musher travel per hour?

A musher finishes the entire 140 mile Jr Iditarod race in 20 hours and 56 minutes.  If she traveled the same amount of miles each hour, how many miles did the musher travel per hour?

If a musher left Knik Lake and was traveling at 4.5 miles per hour, how long would it take them to travel to the Eagle Song checkpoint? The Eagle Song checkpoint is 46 miles from the start?

The Jr Iditarod is 140 miles.  If it is 66 miles from Knik to Yentna, the halfway point, how many miles is it from Yentna to Will Community Center?