The Widow's Lantern Has Been Extinguished

Just like the leaders, the back of pack change position numerous times. When we posted yesterday, we assumed Elliot Anderson would be the last musher to finish Iditarod 42. Elliot scratched in Elim.  ADN.com reports "Anderson's race ended early Saturday. He made it past Golovin but eventually turned around and scratched at that checkpoint, race officials said."

So that left 3 rookie women at the back of pack.

Monica Zappa

Lizbet Norris with her Siberians 

Lizbet Norris

and

 

Marcelle Fressineau.

Norris edged out Fressineau by 35 seconds. 

All three completed the race significantly faster than the 18 days, 17 minutes, and 20 seconds that it took Libby Riddles to become the 1st woman to win in 1985. Fressineau also now holds the fastest Red Lantern, 13 days, 4 hours, 42 minutes, by 24 minutes over Celeste Davis from 2010. 

It's Not Over

It's not over until the Red Lantern is blown out by the last musher to Nome. There is some many things I love about this Race but the fact that the last team in is celebrated, probably my favorite.

There are actually "two" lamps. The tradition goes back to the Widow's Lamp.

From Iditarod.com: The Story of the Widow’s Lamp

During the days of Alaska sled dog freighting and mail carrying, dog drivers relied on a series of roadhouses between their village destinations. Since these mushers ventured out in most all kinds of weather, for safety reasons they found the idea that pilots rely on, known today as the flight plan. Word was relayed ahead that a musher and team were on the trail, and a kerosene lamp was lit and hung outside the roadhouse. It not only helped the dog driver find his destination at night, but more importantly, it signified that a team or teams were somewhere out on the trail. The lamp was not extinguished until the musher safely reached his destination. 

On the first Sunday in March the lamp is lit in Nome and hung on the Burl Arch. When the last team comes in the lamp will be extinguished. The last team will also receive the Red Lantern award, which began, as a joke, in the 1950s but has become a symbol of "not quitting".

This year, it looks like the last team in will be Bib Number 55: Elliot Anderson.

Mrs. B and Elliot at the Musher Banquet

Elliot is running the "puppy" team out of Happy Trails kennel. Elliot has worked with these dogs since they day they were born. He has spend the last two years preparing this dogs to complete the Iditarod. The dogs on his team are about 2 years old. His job is to get as many as possible to Nome, happy and healthy. 

Be sure to watch him finish!

Jeff Kings Video

Mrs. B's teacher friends, the Insider Video where Jeff King talks about what happens outside of Safety gives a real insight to what happened on the ice. She recommends "preview" before showing to your class. It is school appropriate but you will want to know what you're getting into before you show it.

I think you will have to log into Insider to watch it.

Polar Spirits (Outstanding Footage of the Northern Lights)

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Dallas Seavey masters the Rubik's Cube of mushing

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Watch Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey realize he just won the race

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Alaska dog musher Aliy Zirkle explains why she stopped in Safety during ...

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Dallas Seavey in Kaltag

Sled dogs howl as Aliy Zirkle departs Takotna

Hold tight! Take a wild sled dog ride with 4-time Iditarod champ Jeff King

News Report from Wednesday Night

Aliy Zirkle Before the Race

2014 Iditarod rookie Christian Turner, from Australia, in Nikolai

Jake Berkowitz scratches from Iditarod 2014

Ways to "Watch" the Iditarod

In Alaska there are a number of newspapers, radio and TV stations, and bloggers who report on the Iditarod. So there are a lot of different ways to get up-to-date information (most of them are free). Mrs. B's pick is the The Iditarod Trail Committe (ITC) Insider has an amazing website with the GPS tracker and videos. This site is a pay for site but Exxon Mobil about our class a subscription. Remember the username is the buschk@billings.k12.mt.us and the password is busch16.

Hermie likes to watch the Anchorage Daily News (adn.com) site. It has great pictures, video, and updates. Just click on the picture

I likes the read and watch the Alaska Dispatch because they are willing to tell the good, the bad, and ugly. I am kind of a rebel. 

Mrs. B and I are Back at School

So Mrs. B and I arrived back in Billings, MT yesterday. We took a flight called the "Red Eye" which means you fly late at night. When we got home it was 45 degrees and melting but we could tell there had been a lot of snow while we were gone.

Guess who we found hiding on Mrs. B's desk this morning. Yes, you guessed it, Hermie.

 The class welcomed us back with a great bulletin board. So I had to share.

Classroom Insider is Up

You can follow the Iditarod with Classroom Insider. It is fun to watch the GPS and watch the videos. The login is the same as last year: buschk@billings.k12.mt.us (notice it is the old school email address). The password is our classroom password.

2014 Iditarod Martin Buser First out of Rohn

Rohn Buser, son of the current leader Martin Buser, took this video just
outside of the Rohn checkpoint. (Yes, he was named after that
checkpoint. His brother's name is Nikolai.) This trail conditions are
really hard on the sled and musher. The dogs' wrist might get sore also.  

Iditarod Restart Aliy Zirkle

Angie Taggert Visits the Teacher Group

Mrs. B and I sat in class today. We got to see her friend, Angie Taggert. She ran the Iditarod in 2011 and 2013. CNN made some great videos about her 2011 Iditarod.

Vet Check

Dog health and safety is the Number 1 priority to mushers and the Iditarod Trail Committee. Before the race the musher has to have all of their dogs get EKG's, blood work, and a physical.  A special group of veterinarians come to Alaska from all over the world to help Stu Nelson, DVM, the Iditarod Head Veterinarian, take care of all these dogs. There are 69 teams this year and teach vet usually vet checks 20 dogs. You do the math that is a lot of dogs. The mushers that live up here is Alaska can go to their own vet to get all their physicals and then turn in the paper work but the other mushers have to do it when they get here. On Wednesday before the race, the vets set up mobile clinic at HQ (Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla).

Mrs. B year new friend, Mark,  and a vet's daughter who was
playing hooky from school in West Virginia.

The teachers and other race fans head over there to meet the dogs and the mushers. We had a great day. Check it out.

As you can tell, Mrs. B and I focused on meeting the dogs more than the mushers. The mushers are all busy but the dogs are happy to visit. We also saw one of Mrs. B favorite mushers, Matt Failor. She thinks he is cute.

My Friend, Big Ben

Yukon here, 

Hermie said you guys really like Nature's Kennel's, Rhu and Friend Episodes from last year so I said I post them again. Big Ben and I go way back to when it took 12 - 14 days to run the Iditarod. Well, here they are. Be sure to watch all the way to the end because there's some fun stuff after the credits.

Remember Don't Eat Yellow Snow!

Yukon

No Hermie! Guest Blogger Yukon

As usual, Mrs. B was frantically getting ready for her trip to the Iditarod.  She was finishing guest teacher plans, teaching crochet at the local yarn shop, and skiing on a powder day. So Tuesday morning at 4:15 am, she is packing her backpack, and NO Hermie. He is hiding on Mrs. B's desk at school. If you have seen Mrs. B's desk you know how easy it would be for him to hide there. After getting left at the airport last year and hearing how warm it was going to be in Alaska, Hermie decided to stay home. So I came instead,

I am Yukon Cornelius, you can call me Yukon. I am a retired Iditarod sled dog. I just recently came to live with Mrs. B, Hermie, and the gang.
Since I have seen this race from the inside, now I am going to enjoy just being a spectator. I am going to try to give you my perspective.

Photo from ADN

This year the weather in Alaska has been really weird. The Lower 48 has been getting hit with the Polar Vortex but Alaska has been unseasonably warm and low snowfall. On February 19, the Iditarod Trail Committee decided to leave the restart in Willow, but had thought about moving it to Fairbanks.

As a sled dog, I don't like too much snow or too little snow, I like "Goldilocks trails" that are just right. When there is a lot of snow it is just like running in mud and the lead dogs have to break trail. It is a lot of heavy work and some times the musher has to go out and break the trail for us. When there is too little snow, it can be really fast and bumpy. Fast is fun but after while the ground starts feeling really hard on our wrist and feet. The trail can be really hard on the musher, too. It is like going across a washboard. Another concern for the musher, would be braking. If there is not enough snow the musher can't set the snow hook to hold the team. Some of us old timers know how to listen and wait but those young whipper-snapper in the Iditarod just want to run.

 Well, got to run (figuratively not literal) Mrs. B and I are off to Iditarod Headquarters for Vet check and Happy Trails Kennel to hear what Martin Buser has to say about this years race. That should be very interesting.
 Don't eat any yellow snow!
Yukon