Hi boys and girls,
I was following the race today and got really confused when I was looking at the times. I saw the time 16:42. That didn’t look like any time I had ever seen before. So off I went to find my human. I knew she could help me out. She explained that 16:42 is really 4:42 pm. It sure didn’t look like 4:42 to me. Does it to you? She said it’s called Military time and it’s used so there will not be any confusion on whether something is happening in the morning or at night. It’s now starting to make sense. I figured if I was confused maybe you would be also. So I am giving you a chart to help you figure out what time the mushers are really coming in and out of the checkpoints.
0:00 —-12 am 12:00—-12:00 pm
1:00——1 am 13:00——1:00 pm
2:00——2 am 14:00——2:00 pm
3:00——3 am 15:00——3:00 pm
4:00——4 am 16:00——4:00 pm
5:00——5 am 17:00——5:00 pm
6:00——6 am 18:00——6:00 pm
7:00——7 am 19:00——7:00 pm
8:00——8 am 20:00——8:00 pm
9:00——9 am 21:00——9:00 pm
10:00—-10 am 22:00—–10:00 pm
11:00—–11am 23:00—–11:00 pm
I hope this helps you follow the race better. If you don’t understand something, you can always go to an adult human to help you out.
Happy race following,
Gypsy
26 Comments
Dear Gypsy,
Thank you for teaching us about military time. We saw it on the race updates. Did a dog invent military time, or was it a human? Who was it? Does military time go back to one after 23 hundred hours?
Bye! We love following the race from Ithaca, NY!
South Hill 2nd graders.
Hi South Hill 2nd graders, Humans developed Military time. I tried to look up who started it but I didn’t have any luck. Maybe you could try and let me know what you find out. Military time goes to 00:00 after 2300 hours. So Midnight would be 0000, 12:15 am would be 0015. Hope that helps. Gypsy
How’s the Iditarod coming? I heard that Dee Dee Jonwroe was in first. Do you still have a lot of snow where you are? It rained yesterday in Michigan, so we lost most of our snow. Our backyard was flooded! But my dad says that we’re going to get six inches tonight. I’m acutally tired of the snow, and wish it was spring, but I’m glad Alaska has a lot of snow, so the people who are racing can move quicker. I heard that sometimes in the burn there is no snow so the mushers have to travel on the ground! That would be hard. Anyway I gotta go, se U later!
-Molly
Hi Molly, You can follow the race and see where everyone is by going to http://www.iditarod.com. Yes there is still lots of snow here in New Hampshire. There are times when the Iditarod trail is bare. It can be very hard on the sleds. Hope you are enjoying the race. Gypsy
Hi Gypsy! We’re from Owensville, MO and the 5th graders and my fellow 5th grade teachers are following the race toghether this year. Can you tell us how you, Libby, and Sanka came to work with Zuma? Also, can we send you pictures of us and our projects we’ve been doing to prepare for the Iditarod?
Hi to everyone in Owensville, Libby, Sanka, Zuma, and I are taking the same class in K-9 journalism school. It’s an interactive internet class. We became instant friends and Zuma asked if we would like to help her out this year. Let me check the best way to send pictures and I’ll get back with you. I’d love to see your projects. Gypsy
Thank you for helping us understand military time!
from Mrs. Baker’s fifth grade class in Amherst, Wisconsin
Your welcome, I hope it helps. Gypsy
Hi Gypsy,
We are enjoying your lessons about the Great Race and the dogs.We are all watching from Caroga Lake,NY and rooting our mushers on for the win! We were wondering why there isn’t a #1 bib in the race,do you know why? We will keep reading your letters.
Grade 2 Mrs. Wager
Hi Mrs. Wager’s class, I’m glad you are enjoying the race. Bib #1 is used during the Ceremonial start and is reserved each year for an honorary musher. The actual musher is usually the Jr. Iditarod winner and the Iditarider is the honorary person. This year the honored person was the head of the Millennium Hotel which is the Anchorage headquarters of the Iditarod during the race. Many times it honors a person who had done a lot for the race and who has died during the past yet. Hope that helps. Enjoy the rest of the race. Gypsy
Thanks for telling me what millitary time is! It really helped! Who are you going for in the iditarod? I’m going for Mitch Seavey the 2004 winner of the iditarod. Tell Mitch Hes AWESOME!
Please Reply,
JeremyYour welcome Jeremy. Glad it helped. I’m following all the mushers. Gypsy
I tried the military time and it really helped me. Thanks, Sofia
i have never heard of military time before, either. Jassimen
Hi Jassimen, I’m glad this helped you. Keep reading and following the race. Gypsy
Thanks for sharing your information Gypsy, we are watching the race from Montana. We love to following our favorite mushers and dogs(of course).
Thanks and enjoy the race. Gypsy
Hi Gypsy,
This is Ms. Belle’s class again. We found out that military time is also called 24 hour time, and is followed by most people in other countries all the time. Maybe that’s why you didn’t find out who invented it as a special way to tell time.
We also noticed something funny about time and the Iditarod. It is a different time in NY than it is in Alaska because the earth rotates.
We have a boy in our class with the same name as one of the mushers. We also have a father and a dog with the same names as dogs in the race!
We wish we were in Alaska now!
Bye,
Your favorite 2nd grade fans from Ithaca, NY
Thanks for helping me find that information. Gypsy
Mrs. Rupar’s 4th Gr. Class says:
We are working hard on following the race down here in sunny North Palm Beach, Florida . Each of us has a musher to track. The activities are fun to do too. Thanks for telling us about military time. Hopefully you will post some pictures for us to see.
Tails and Wags to you.
I will try to get out and take some pics for you. I’m not in Alaska so I’m letting Libby, Sanka, and Zuma post all their pics from the race.
Gypsy
Hey Gypsy! In school, we have to follow 3 mushers. I’m so happy that Paul Gebhardt is in 5th, and Jessie Royer is 9th. I think the Iditarod is interesting to follow! xoxo
Mrs.Mosca’s class asks: |
We have 2 questions. First, why do mushers scratch after they have started the race? We saw that a musher named Roig scratched and he still had 14 dogs. Second, how do you keep track of all the teams between the checkpoints (not the 20 that have the GPS system)?
Hi Mrs. Mosca’s class, Mushers scratch for various reasons. The dogs may not be having a good time, or the musher has gotten hurt or is ill. If you look on the Iditarod’s main website: http://www.iditarod.com, go to 2008 Iditarod and go to the news portion. You can get updates on why a musher scratched. It’s not possible at this time to track teams between checkpoints. I usually look at the checkpoint they were just at, I look at the average time it’s taking other mushers to get to the next checkpoint. Then I figure out about when to expect the mushers I’m following will arrive at the next checkpoint. Thanks for writing. Gypsy
Dear Gypsy, It is very interesting that time has a secret code called “milatary time”. But instead of making codes to tell if it is am or pm why can’t they just say 4:42 pm?
Lots of Tail Wags, Lene
Hi Lene, using am and pm can still cause confusion. Someone may hear it wrong or it gets written wrong. By using “military” time, there is no confusion on whether the time is am or pm. Gypsy.
What is a normal cycle for the dog team. They eat, run, snacks, rest, and run some more. What is a “normal” day for a dog on the Iditarod?
Thanks! Mr. Berryman-Shafer
Hi, thanks for writing. Every musher comes up with their own race plan that they feel is best for their team. It contains time for running, resting, eating, and snacking. Trail conditions, weather conditions, etc, can change the plan. A musher may rest his team longer after a hard portion of the trail. During warm days, they will try to run more at night and rest more during the heat of the day. These are factors that can change what a musher had planned out. Another factor will be the experience of the musher and/or the dogs. So a “normal” day will be different from team to team. Hope that helps some. Gypsy
Hey ray good job moving up. Keep it going I like that. Dalton
Were does the word “Iditarod” come from?
I listened to your advice, and i am following my own musher on http://www.iditarod.com.
I picked Dee Dee Jonwroe and Rick Swenson. When I told my teacher what I was doing, and who I picked, she said it was kind of wierd, because Rick Swenson and Dee Dee Jonwroe and two of the best mushers! My teacher thought it was such a good idea, that she decided to have my whole class pick a musher to follow, but that time I picked Cindy Gallea. I liked the article about 24 hour time because usually when we check up on our mushers I don’t know what the times mean! Anyway I gotta go my whole class is starting to leave the compputer lab.
Lots of tail wags,
Molly
It’s Molly again. Our class abousolety loved the idea of following the race! We each picked mushers out of a mukluk, which was really a boot, and got the musher we were going to follow. I got Cindy Gallea who is doing pretty good. My best friend Lilly, got Rick Swenson, and another one of my friends named Lindsay, got Dee Dee Jonwroe, which I am still following at home. A boy named Carter, in my class, got Jeff King, who I heard was another very good racer. Then Aaron got Micth Seavey who has been in first many times, and Jared got Lance Mackey, who has also been in first many times. Cindy Gallea has only been in 33, probably because she started in 82. Cindy is out of Takonta, and is on her way to Ophir. She has dropped three dogs already, and is doing ok. I also heard there is a Rookie named Molly, just like me! Well, my mom’s calling me, i better go,
Lot’s of tail wags,
Molly
I’m back for the thrid time, today a musher came to our school and talked about sled dogs and the Iditarod. He even brought three sleds, and six of his dogs with him, along with a ton of other stuff about sled dogs. He talked to us for a while inside, and then we got to go outside and pet the dogs! Then he let one person have a ride on the sled, this time it was Donald stood on the runners, and my student teacher Miss Roosma, got to ride in the basket. Then when all the other classes left, Mr. Dan the sled dog man, as we call him, talked to our class special while we were petting his dogs, because my teacher Mrs. Van Egmond, knows him really well. My favorite dog was koyuk, because he seemed to be the nicest dog, and kept on licking my face! It was really fun.
goodbye
lots of tail wags,
Molly
Molly, I am so glad you are having fun following the race. Thanks for writing. Gypsy
Hi Gypsy!I’m from Owensville and I am following Ray Redington Jr. for an assignment.One question I have is how does each musher pick a lead dog?
Thanks a lot,
Allison
Great question Allison, The mushers do a lot of training with their dogs. They watch their dogs closely and try them in different positions. They will place the dogs in the position they run the best in. If a musher feels a dog would do well in lead, they will try the dog in that position next to am older trained leader. That older trained leader will help train the new dog. When picking dogs for a race, the musher will look at the dogs he has and pick the best for the race he is running.
Hope that helps. Gypsy
Why do huskies like it better when its like -30F outside? Mark
Hi Mark, Huskies have a very thick undercoat to help keep them warm in very cold temps. That undercoat is still on them when the temps are warmer so they get warm or hot. Think of it like if you have a heavy winter coat to wear outside when it’s cold. You are very comfortable outside with the coat on. Now come inside and don’t take the coat off. Your mom had turned up the heat in the house and now you are very warm but you can’t take your coat off. That’s the way the dogs are. They cannot take their coats off and on like we do. Now in spring, huskies will lose that undercoat so they are comfortable in the warmer temperatures. But at this time of year, they still have their undercoats and are much more comfortable in the colder temps. Gypsy
But that’s Alaskan time, right? So why doesn’t Alaska keep time like 12:00 pm, and 2:30 pm?
-Kay — thanks Gypsy!
Hi Kay, That’s a good question. Alaska does keep time like 12:00pm and 2:30pm. Military time or 24 time is used anytime that it is very important to know the difference between am and pm. Sometimes people forget to use am and pm and just say “I’ll see you at 7″ You might wait for them at 7 am when they meant 7pm. If they said “I’ll see you at 1900 hours, you would know for sure they meant pm. Hope that helps. Gypsy.
Very interesting, I hope you guys win and have lots of fun! Yeah! Jacob
Hi Gypsy I am from Ms.Belle’s class.In 24 hour time what is 2:15? from Anna
Hi Anna, In 24 hour time 2:15 is 2:15 in the morning. Thanks for writing. Gypsy
This is Molly, for like the eighth time, I was just wondering this morning while I was eating breakfast, what the dogs in the Iditarod eat while they’re racing. I know it’s lots of different stuff, but our teacher never said for sure what they eat. And do you still have a lot of snow where you live, because in Grand Rapids, Michigan there is barely any left! We have a woods behind our house, and when I went back there on Monday, we had a frozen pond, but today it’s all melted again. Oh, and one more thing, how long, on average, does it take for the winner to usually finish the race, and in average, how long does it usually take for the regular musher to finish the race? And exactly how many booties would a average musher have to have if he had sixteen dogs for the whole race, and he put one clean one on each dog each day? I know that’s kind of a hard question, but I think you can answer it. Anyway I gotta go,
Lots of tail wags,
Molly
Good to hear from you again Molly, Dogs while racing eat a variety of food. They eat their kibble (dried dog food) and a variety of meat and fish. Each musher may feed their team a little different than the others. We do still have a lot of snow on the ground. Look for the winner to come in around 9 days. The red lantern winner may come in around 12-14 days with everyone else coming in between. As for booties. I think you could figure that out. Booties are good for 30-50 miles each. Dogs don’t usually wear them the whole race but when trail conditions as such that booties are needed. Thanks for writing. Gypsy
Hi Gypsy,
Our entire class has been following the race. Each teacher had their children choose a musher to follow. We are tracking their progress each day and charting them on maps of the trail. In addition, we are learning all about dogs, what you need to have on the sleds, how the race is run and all the volunteers that are needed. Wow, it is a very busy time in Alaska!
On Wednesday, the second grade is having their own I-kid-arod. We have some home-made sleds, and we have the kids pull them, stop at checkpoints and take turns being the musher. At each checkpoint they have to perform a task, even feeding the “dogs”. It is very interesting for the kids to be in your booties! We race against the clock and have a great time! We are watching the race, and your postings with great interest! Thank you for keeping us updated.
Mrs. Gorelick’s Class
Nashua, NH
Hi Mrs. Gorelick’s Class, You sure sound like you are having fun. My human just told me that I will be visiting you on Friday. I’m so excited to meet all of you.
Have a great time on Wednesday. It sounds like a great learning activity. See you soon. Gypsy
Hey Gypsy the 7th graders at Lockwood School here in Billings,Montana had their own Ikidarod on Friday,March 7. We had to stop at check points and answer questions.If we got the question wrong we lost that dog and we had a mandatory rest stop which lasted about 5 minutes. Everyone has to follow a person of their choice and I chose Rachael Scdoris and one of my friends chose Melissa Owens.I think it is cool that Rachael is almost blind and she is still in the race. Well that is all from here in Billings, Montana. Bye Amanda
Hi Amanda, Glad you’re enjoying the race. I’ve heard from several classes doing the Ikidarod. It sounds like so much fun. Thanks for writing, Gypsy