Hello Boys and Girls,

It’s hard to believe that the first mushers have reached the checkpoint of Iditarod.

Lance Mackey was the first to arrive and that means, he won $3,000 in gold nuggets and he got a trophy.   Sure wish I could have been there to see the smiles on the faces of my fur friends!  I bet they were proud to have been first to arrive.  I think no matter what you are doing you should give out a howl of congratulations to my fur friends and Lance for all of their hard work on the trail.  Getting to the halfway point first is quite an accomplishment.

Iditarod is a ghost town now but it used to be a very busy gold mine community.  It’s a fun place to research and learn about so  I hope you take a little time to day to do that.  Sled dogs played an important role in life in Iditarod and other villages way back when Iditarod was a busy community.  Do you think the past history of Iditarod has anything to do with the prize they give out to the first musher arriving there?  

By the way, just because Lance was the first to Iditarod doesn’t mean that he is in first place.  Lance hasn’t taken his 24 hour lay over yet and musher traveling behind him have.  Take time today and look at the race stats and talk about how the 24 hour lay over information really starts to tell the picture of the front runners. Only the last musher to start the race takes a 24 hour lay over.  The second to the last musher gets 24 hours and 2 minutes.  The third to the last musher gets 24 hours and 4 minutes and so on.  When the 24 hour lay over mandatory rest is completed, then it is just like everyone started the race at the same time.   That’s your ‘gold tidbit’ for the day.

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma