Libby Here!
Lots of kids want to know, “Do mushers get a chance to eat, bathe, and sleep?”
Everyone has to eat and sleep in order to stay healthy. Keeping clean helps, too!
When a musher arrives at a checkpoint, the first thing the musher does is feed and care for the dogs. When all of the chores are done, the musher can start to think about taking care of the musher!
When a musher gets to a checkpoint, the musher gets their supply bags that have been sent to the checkpoints before the race starts. In these supply bags, the musher has packed the items the musher needs at the checkpoints. (more dog booties, dog blankets or jackets, food for the dogs, extra batteries, and any thing the musher thinks will be needed.) The musher’s meals have been packed and frozen in the supply bags, too. The meals are in air tight zip lock bags. The musher food can be dropped in a pot of boiling water to defrost and reheat it or be heated in a microwave if there is one in the checkpoint building. Mushers eat lots of good foods, the same kinds of foods they would be eating at home if they weren’t racing.
Getting sleep comes after the chores are done and the musher has eaten something. How much sleep a musher gets depends on the time it takes to do chores and the musher’s race schedule. When the musher wakes up, the musher does chores before leaving for the trail. Sometimes mushers do the chores and naps along the trail in between the checkpoints, by parking the team, building a fire, cooking for the dogs and the musher, and taking a nap together.
Taking a bath isn’t necessary for the mushers to do. If a musher is on a 24 hour mandatory lay over at a checkpoint, a musher could take time for something like that if there was a place to wash up, but that lay over is a good time to get longer musher sleep, and taking a bath is less important than sleep.
In checkpoint buildings, there is the opportunity to wash hands and faces, though. To keep from catching any illness going on during the race, staying free from germs is important.
Do you get enough sleep? Do you eat the right kinds of food? How often do you bathe? How often do you wash your hands during the day? What do you do to try and stay healthy? These are good things for you to think about!
Just spinning some de’tails’!
Libby
8 Comments
I thought this article was very informative and answered alot of questions that I have always wondered about. I have owned my own husky for over a year now and I have now become very interested in The Iditerod Race.I look for dogs that are similar to my “Kimo”. He is white with ice blue eyes and quite a big boy. I also have 7 American Eskimos. I also feel like I have my own sled team.Theres the connection ,anyway keep writing those great articles Woof, Emma
Hey Libby, I like what you wrote on your home page. Where do you live? I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We didn’t get snow here till the end of October, otherwise it was really warm, everyone thought it was wierd. But then when we got the snow there was a ton. It’s finally going away, and I’m glad! Anyway I have to go I’m going to go outside and play some basket ball.Bye Bye.
-Grace
I can see a lot more mushers got to Nome today than yesterday. GO ALIY ZIRKLE. Sorry I just love her name. My friend Ali is Aliy’s pal. Iditarod is the best ever, don’t you think ZUMA. Talk to you soon ZUMA.
We all think it is a GREAT race.
The K-9 Reporters
Who show you how to tape.Thats way cool that you can tape like us. bye Zuma. love SHELLY
We all learned to type in school. It takes practice to learn anything.
Libby
I was just wondering, have you ever ran in an Iditarod? One day I’m hoping to be in the jr. Iditarod cuz I love dogs and the outdoors I go hiking almost every day when I’m done with my homework, so I was wondering if you could give me some advice. Any way my class is doing a project on one of the mushers and we have to track them mines Liz Parish shes Red Lantern but I’m happy she isn’t giving up and she has 14 dogs.
From,
Sofia
No, I haven’t run the race. I don’t have plans to do that but it is great to read comments from kids and adults that have goals. You can meet your goal, I know you can. Good luck!
I think that a musher should care for there dogs before themselves because the dogs are the ones that are getting you to wherever your going. Do you take care of your dogs before yourselve? If you dont, maybe you should.
Not trying to tell you what to do, though, I was just sugesting something.
Heather
Thanks for your comment. Just like the article says, mushers take care of the dogs first. They have a lot of chores to do!
Libby
DEAR,ZUMA I THINK THERE SHOULD BE MORE MANDATORY S- TOPS IN THE IDITAROD.WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Eli
Hello Eli,
There is a rules committee that makes the race rules. It would be hard to have more checkpoints because of the number of villages along the trail. When making the rules, everyone thinks about how much time mushers and dogs need to rest.
Lots of Tail Wags, Zuma
What do you eat during the race?
Mushers eat delicious meals they’ve sent to the trail. The dogs eat their delicious meals and snacks.
Libby