Last night, all twenty-one entrants of the Junior Iditarod attended a required mushers’ meeting at Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska.  During the meeting questions were answered about the trail and starting positions were drawn from a hat.  Racing bibs and maps of the route were handed out as well.  Earlier in the day, veterinarians had carefully examined every dog.  Current immunization records were reviewed before the official health certificates were signed.  Everything is set for the race.

There is a new and intriguing aspect this year.  Every musher will have a GPS electronic tracker attached to his or her sled provided by ION EARTH.  This 20-ounce satellite unit will show the musher’s movement (or lack thereof), their sled speed, and the outside temperature.  The whole world will have the opportunity to watch the progress of each Junior Iditarod musher and the terrain they will be covering by following their progress along a special map.  You can enjoy this addition of 21^st century technology to our ancient sport by going to race.ionearth.com/2009/jr_iditarod/.