Why the Iditarod?

Since this blog was born a week ago,* questions have flooded in:  why Alaska?  why this race?  what's this grant all about?  what does "Iditarod" mean anyway?  As a life-long dog-lover, I fell in love with this race from the first moment I first learned about it.  The idea behind it is something I can only dream about:  traveling 1,000 miles across the vast expanse of Alaskan wilderness on a sled behind a team of dogs has a lot of intrigue for an English teacher from the relatively moderate climate of Indiana.

The grant provides me with the opportunity to examine this most unusual happening in an "up close and personal" way by actually going to Alaska to investigate it.  Discovering for myself the details, stories, and heroes of an event that is fresh and new every year, because the mushers, dogs, experience level, and weather conditions all come together in a unique combination every time the first Saturday in March rolls around, and the teams rush through the streets of Anchorage to start this ultimate dogsled race we call the Iditarod.

First run in 1973, the Alaskan Iditarod Dogsled Race commemorates a 1925 life-saving run by dogsled from Anchorage to Nome.  The word, "Iditarod" reportedly has several meanings.  Iditarod is a small ghost-town about the middle of the race route.  According to Iditarod Fact Book by Sue Mattson, it  means "clear water" whose source is the Iditarod River.  "Distant Place" is an alternate definition.  It is thought that these definitions come from Ingalik Indian terms and Holikachuk phrases referring to the river.  (16)

The history is intriguing, which is why I hope to become a walking Iditarod encyclopedia, sharing more insights  as I uncover them through my study, but first and foremost, I hope to learn the unsung stories behind the race, as told by the mushers themselves.  I hope you will go along with me as I have the time of my life trying to capture the essence of what has understandably come to be called, "The Last Great Race on Earth."   In just a few short days, I will travel to Alaska.  I can hardly believe it is finally time for my own Iditarod journey to begin!

 *I would be remiss if I did not thank  Emily and Sarah., two exceptional teachers with whom I work, for their technological expertise in helping me launch this blog, as well as Cathy, Heidi, and my husband Don, for their unending support.