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Zuma's Paw Prints
Hello friends, In a year with a pawful of changes, another one was announced today. Alaska’s interior has had a LOT of snow the past few days and the trail breaking crew was having a difficult time creating a well marked trail. For the safety of everyone, including our trail breaking volunteers, the decision was …
Dear Friends, The Iditarod teams are definitely in a race! Did you know they have a secret to make their sleds glide easily in the differing snow and ice conditions? It is called runner plastic. Mushers will carry various colors and types of coiled up plastic they can slip over the runners of their sled. …
Hello friends, What a fun race! It seems every time I check the tracker, the lead has changed. According to Race Log #93 only 4 mushers have taken their mandatory 8 hour layover and no teams have taken their 24. Of course, we won’t know the true lead until all the teams have taken their …
Hello friends, Every year I get asked the same question from students, “Who is your favorite musher?” As a K9 reporter I try to stay impartial, but I can’t help it, Aliy Zirkle is my favorite. No one has a brighter smile or more positive energy on the trail. This year is her final Iditarod …
What’s in the sled bag? Every musher is required to carry some mandatory gear. Locate the race rules on the Iditarod web page. Find out what items mushers are required to carry. Some items are for the well being of the canine athletes and some items are for the safety of the musher. Make a …
Hello Friends, With temperatures around 25°F and under a bluebird sky, 47 sled dog teams took off on the Iditarod Trail. Awooooo! It was fun to watch my K9 friends so excited to be on the trail doing what they love best – rrrrrunning. Some 1st graders from Ann Arbor, Michigan have a few questions …
Dear Friends, Did any of you choose one of the Seeing Double Sled Dog Racing mushers to follow in the 2021 Iditarod? Kristy and Anna Berington have been favorites for students to follow because, being identical twins, they get noticed! Kristy has been racing since 2010. Her best finish has been in 16th place. …
Dear Friends, I wrote about the mushers packing their sleds with things for us sled dogs, but what do the mushers need? If you go to iditarod.com, Race Center, Information for Mushers, and then 2021 Iditarod Rules, you will see a list of what MUST be on a musher’s sled at all times. In fact, …
The JR Iditarod mushers run 75 miles out to the Yentna Station Road House. The starter/timer out at Yentna records the time each of the JR Iditarod mushers checks into the halfway checkpoint. Your problem is to calculate the time each of the mushers can depart Yentna for the finish line in Willow. The mushers …
How can the first team to cross the finish line be the winner if teams depart from the start at 2 minute intervals? Teams are required to take a long rest. For the JR Iditarod it’s 10 hours and for Iditarod it’s 24 hours. A time adjustment is added to their departure after the long …