Iditarod Report

1
Iditarod Report

• Cory Meadows 3rd period Mrs. Galloways Class
• Due 3-15-01

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The Iditarod

• An outbreak of the disease diphtheria loomed over
  the small town of Nome, Alaska in 1925. A
  medicine was needed to immunize the townspeople
  but it was in short supply. Bad weather in the
  area kept airplanes from Fairbanks on the ground.
  The medicine was instead rushed from Nenana to
  Nome, about 675 miles, by dog teams. The medicine
  was relayed the distance in just 127.5 hours.

3
The Iditarod continued

• The Iditarod Sled Dog Race is run to honor the
  historic medicine run. The race begins in
  Anchorage during the first weekend in March. From
  the first 20-day run in 1973, the times have
  fallen to under 10 days. After the first musher
  reaches the burl arch in Nome, mushers continue
  to flow in both day and night for a week and a
  half.

4
The After Race Celebration

• At the end of the race, Nome becomes quite a
  center of activity. Scheduled activities include
  a potluck dinner, several crafts shows, the race
  awards ceremonies including an opportunity to
  meet the mushers, and an Alaskan sized basketball
  tournament (over 50 teams attend the
  competition). There is also the Ice Golf Classic
  and a darts tournament.

5
My Mushers

• Dee Dee Jonrowe Willow, Alaska
• Dee Dee Jonrowe was born in Germany in 1953 while
  her dad was in the service. She went to school in
  Virginia and in 1971 the military brought their
  family to Alaska.

6
Mushers continued

• She began mushing in 1979 and became interested
  in the Iditarod after her mother shared her
  interest in the race while Dee Dee lived in
  Bethel. Dee Dee has won many awards during her
  racing career including the Alaska Airlines
  Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award. She is a
  member of Big Lake Baptist Church, Valley Women's
  Running Club and P.R.I.D.E.

7
Mushers continued

• Juan Alcina
• Willow, Alaska
• Juan Alcina was born in Malaga, Spain, in 1964.
  He was an aircraft mechanic for 10 years in the
  Spanish Air  Force. Juan began mushing in 1990 in
  the Pyrenees and moved to Alaska in 1991 with
  plans to eventually run "The Last Great Race."

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Mushers continued

• Juan's been an aircraft mechanic at the Anchorage
  International Airport for the last four years. He
  is a member of Club Slid and says he enjoys
  spending time with his family and the dogs.
  Maureen and Juan have a son, Javier, age 5, and
  the newest member of their family, Neal, 1.

9
Mushers continued

• Ron Koczaja Kwethluk, AK
• Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Ron
  Koczaja, 29, attended college at the State
  University of New York at Buffalo and graduated
  with a degree in biology with a minor in
  education.

10
Mushers continued

• Ron spent summers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where
  he got into climbing and mountaineering. After
  college, he decided to come to Alaska because of
  all the huge mountains.

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Mushers continued
Ironically, he ended up with a job in Kasigluk, a
village located in the middle of the huge flat
Kuskokwim delta no mountains or hills in sight.
He began running in 1995 with dogs that belonged
to Cauline Ferguson and got hooked. After a
year, he got his own dogs and began running with
Yukon Quest musher, Andrew Lesh. After three
years of mushing in the howling wind and on glare
ice and barren tundra, he moved to Kwethluk for
the trees, mountains and all around better trail
conditions. He said he decided to run the
Iditarod after he entered the Kuskokwim 300 with
the goal of just finishing and ended up
placing fairly respectably and ahead of some
Iditarod mushers. Ron is single. He says his
hobbies are camping and traveling.
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Ending

• At the beginning the route was used for getting
  medicine to a town and as a mail route.Now it
  just run for fun. No matter how the course has
  changed over the years its still beautiful, and
  is still the last great race on earth.