One week before the big Iditarod, young mushers between the ages of 14 and 17 participate in the Junior Iditarod. The kids have a bib drawing and musher meeting on Friday evening and on Saturday at 10:00 the race begins. The route takes the juniors from Willow Lake out to Yentna Station and then they return to the common start/finish on Sunday for a total of 140 miles. The temperatures this year compared to the last 2 years were very mild - highs in the 20’s and lows around zero.
When the mushers reach the Yentna Station Roadhouse, they go through a bag and equipment check. They bed their dogs down, give them water and then cook them a delicious meal. After the dogs are fed, they curl up and go to sleep. The young mushers then have time to eat their own meals that were previously cooked, sealed in plastic then frozen. All the kids have to do is drop their meals in boiling water to heat them up.
The teams have a mandatory 10-hour rest at Yentna Station. The first team into Yentna arrived at 16:11 (military time) on Saturday afternoon. That team wouldn’t be eligible to leave until 02:11 Sunday Morning. Now because the teams start at 2-minute intervals, the start differential is added to the layover time. There were 21 teams in the junior competition. The 21st team to start would only have to layover 10 hours. The 1st team out of the chute at Willow would have to layover 10 hours and 40 minutes.
The first team into Yentna was Cain Carter at 16:11 followed very closely by several other teams. My friend Gopher’s team and driver Meredith Mapes arrived at 17:44. The leaders left Yentna at 02:52 on Sunday. Gopher and Meredith left at 03:56.
The finish was way cool - almost a PHOTO FINISH! Jessica Klejka’s team came down the trail and onto the lake followed closely by Cain Carter’s team. In the half mile across the lake to the finish line, Cain kept urging his dogs on by calling ON BY - On BY! Jessica kept urging her team on by calling HIKE - HIKE! Jessica won by only half the length of her dog team! What a great race. Gopher and team crossed the finish line at 11:55 in 14th place.
ll of the participants, volunteers and spectators were given a special treat by Mother Nature on Sunday for the finish. The MOUNTAIN was OUT! Being very clear with no clouds or haze, Denali was visible from Lake Willow.
Are you wondering about military time? It’s a 24 hour clock rather than just the twelve hour clock used for regular time. It’s never the same time twice during a day. This would be terribly confusing when recording race times. The times in military are the same as regular time up until 12:00 noon. From then on, simply add the hours and minutes to 12 to come up with the military equivalent to regular time. So If a team crossed the finish line at 1:15 in the afternoon, it would be 13:15 military time. If a team crossed the finish line at 6:00 in the evening, it would be 18:00 military time. This is a great math activity.
Sanka says congratulations to all the great junior mushers and their dog teams. You’ll find more information about the Junior finish at www.jriditarod.com.
14 Comments
This is Mrs. Kadziel’s second grade classroom studying the Iditarod.
Our question is: approximately how many booties does a sled dog go through
if he/she starts and finishes the race.
We have a snowy winter- just like us humans like it. Living in a ski town
we need the snow for great powder skiing. Actually all our dogs here love
the snow also- they try to look for snowballs!
Your human friends.
Mrs. Kadziel’s amazing learners!
I am very interested in the Iditarod. We are studying it in my third grade class. How long have you been a dog reporter? I hope you are having fun.
Lots of tail wags, Lene
Who is the best musher out of the people in the race this year? Lauren
How many miles is it?
How hard do you have to train for this? Do they have doggy exams like they do in the real Iditarod? I know some people who could enter, but I don’t know how they’d fare. Can anybody enter in the Jr. Iditarod, or does there have to be some kinda connection to the Iditarod? Are the same checkpoints in that race like the Iditarod? I’ve picked some mushers to track, and maybe they’ve been in the Jr. Iditarod before.
Kay:*thank you Sanka
We are learning about the Alaskan Huskies in our sixth grade history class. I have many questions about the Huskies and how they keep warm while racing in the zero weather conditions. First, with the fur being so thick how do the huskies keep from over heating? Do they eat at each check point or only certain times during the race? I would like to get more historical information about the Huskies of Alaska how would I get that information? Thanks Duane
Do you run on the trail? Lots of tail wags Maddy.
my class is studing the iditarod I Think that Jeff King is going to win!!and my class might have some questions so i might vist again!!
your human friend,
Lasya
One of my students would like to run the Junior Iditarod someday. How do they find out more information about this? Rebecca
our class is learning about the iditarod and I was wondering if you could send me an email about what it is like on the trail and what it is like to be in the race!!!!thank you!!!
your friend,
Brogan
you must have been cold:) Timothy
i am studing the last GREAT race in my 7th grqade class its cool. Alona
Those Puppys are so cute!!! I love the sled dogs. Jessica
The dogs are so cute!!!!!! Jessica
Who won the Jr.Iditarod?? Alli