This is the first year for the Mushers to be on GPS....see where they are! Note that Ailey Zirkle is a blind girl in her 20s...she is doing very well with a 'leader' she follows. She had to fight for the right to do it, and this is her third attemp! Go Ailey!


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This is pretty neat...


I've loved keeping up with the Iditarod since I was a teen...

GPS is a wonderful thing .... now I can see where they are without dragging out my maps...



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Abbie

Thanks Greenjeans! I've wanted to go to that for a long time. I hope some day I can. They are such beauties!

From another thread when someone asked about this:

The first Iditarod was in 1972. However, this is in memory of the TB serum run back in 1925 to Nome. They saved many families lives. Balto the famous lead dog has had a movie made about him, a cartoon and a statue (I think its in) Central Park in NYC. The conditions don't change much, but the spirit is still there.

Unfortunately, sometimes a dog dies, even though vets are strewn throughout the race, but if you could see the dogs; They worship their masters, they love what they do, and those dogs wouldn't have it any other way (Think how your dog might like to "GO" for a ride or a walk). The mushers usually pull dogs from the team on the way if they are lethargic, sick or ANYTHING that concerns them, and they fly back to anchorage and get top dog treatment, (They start with 20, end with about 8-12) and they have mandtory lay overs, one is 24 hours.

On the trail, the mushers COOK for them, hot meals with all the nutrients (Caribou, deer, etc). They have caches of food dropped weeks before they leave, so the food is there. The mushers are heart broken if a dog dies, and I've seen more than once when a mushed dropped out of the race because they couldn't stop the tears for the loss of these great ATHLETES!

The race used to take 3 weeks or more, but like all athletes, many of the top teams finish in about 10-14 days now. Some still are out there for up to a month...and the last one in gets the 'blue latern' award. We never stop watching until they all come home!