Junior Iditarod
Encyclopedia
The Junior Iditarod Sled Dog Race, or Jr. Iditarod, is a 148 to 158 mile (222 km
) sled dog race
for mushers
between the ages of 14 through 17, which is patterned after the 1,049 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The race is held outside Anchorage
in the U.S. state
of Alaska
, and was the first long-distance race for juvenile mushers.
With the encouragement of "Go for it" Joe Redington
, Senior, the Jr. Iditarod was established 1977 by Eric Beeman, Rome Gilman, Karl Clausen, Kenny Pugh, and Clarence Shockley, who were unable to compete in the Iditarod because they were less than 18 years of age. In October 1987, the Jr. Iditarod officially became part of the Iditarod Trail Committee, which manages the senior race. Presently Jr. Iditarod is once again a separate organization backed by the Iditarod to a great extent as well as other sponsors.
The Jr. Iditarod race is designed as a long-distance race, as opposed to a "sprint, or speed race", and is intended to help prepare younger mushers for the even longer Iditarod. The race commonly runs from Settler's Bay for 69 miles (111 km) along the Iditarod Trail
to the Yetna Station Roadhouse
. Trail location may vary year to year depending on trial conditions and due to poor conditions locally has started and finished in the Willow as well as the Lake Louise areas. At the half way point mushers must care for their sled dogs and camp overnight for either 8 or 12 hours, before returning the following day. The first Jr. Iditarod had junior, kids 11 through 13 years of age and running 4 to six dogs, and senior divisions,kids 14 through 17 years running a maximum of 10 dogs. the junior division ran a total of 18 miles and 40 miles (58 and 64 km), for the senior class respectively. Senior mushers spent the night camping with their dogs at Mud Lake in the Big lake area. By the second year due to logistics, the two divisions were abolished, age was now 14 through 17, and the distance was increased to 90 miles (145 km) in 1978, and then to 120 miles (193 km) in 1979. Each team is composed of between 5 and 10 sled dog
s, and is required to carry the same equipment as the competitors in the Iditarod.
The Jr. Iditarod is held in the weekend before the Iditarod. The winner of the junior event takes the honorary first position out of the chute during the ceremonial start of the longer race in Anchorage on the first Saturday in March, and leads the pack to the first checkpoint, normally 20 miles (32 km
) away in Eagle River
.
Jr. Iditarod mushers are mostly from Alaska, though the U.S. state
s of Minnesota
and Montana
Montana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Georgia, Washington, Pennsylvania, Yukon Territory,Canada, have been represented, and Thomas Krejci of Czechoslovakia
became the first international competitor in 1992, also winning the Humanitarian Award that year. All mushers are between the ages of 14 and 18, and frequently train their own teams of sled dog
s. A number of previous competititors have gone on to compete in the longer Iditarod, including Lance Mackey, Tim Osmar, Ramey Smyth, and Cim Smyth, to name but a few.
USD
$15,000 in scholarship
money was awarded last year. Of primary concern to Jr. Iditarod are animal care, sportsmanship and furthering education, as well as promotion of our sport. The first three finishers receive $5,000, $2,500, and $1,500, respectively. The winners of the Sportsmanship Award, chosen by their fellow mushers; and the Humanitarian Award, chosen by the race veterinarian
s, win $1,000 each. The winner also receives round trip tickets to the Iditarod Awards Banquet in Nome
with their parents. All finishers receive a trophy, a patch, and prizes donated by local businesses. Other awards are the Blue Harness, given to the best lead dog; the Rookie of the Year, given to the top musher among those competing for the first time; and the Red Lantern, given to the last to finish.
.
Melissa Owens won on February 27, in 10 hours, 51 minutes, 27 seconds. On March 5 she was the first musher out of the chute during the ceremonial first leg of the 2005 Iditarod
, representing honorary musher Jirdes Winther Baxter, the last known survivor of the children who were saved from a diphtheria
epidemic
by the historic 1925 serum run to Nome. Second and third place went to Rohn Buser and Dallas Seavey, sons of former Iditarod champions Martin Buser
and Mitch Seavey
. Dallas Seavey, whose birthday is on March 4, became the first musher to compete in both the Jr. Iditarod and the Iditarod in the same year. The Red Lantern was Amy Gundlach.
|+ style="text-align:left" align=bottom |ITC (2005). Media.
! style="background: #ccf" | Year
! style="background: #ccf" | Musher
|-
|1978 || Mike Neuman Senior Division,
Joe Good Junior Division
|-
|1979 || Clint Mayeur,
|-
|1980 || Gary Baumgartner
|-
|1981 || Christine Delia
|-
|1982 || Tim Osmar
|-
|1983 || Tim Osmar
|-
|1984 || Tim Osmar
|-
|1985 || Lance Barve
|-
|1986 || Lance Barve
|-
|1987 || Dusty VanMeter
|-
|1988 || Dan Flodin
|-
|1989 || Jared Jones
|-
|1990 || Jared Jones
|-
|1991 || Brian Hanson
|-
|1992 || Ramey Smyth
|-
|1993 || Ramey Smyth
|-
|1994 || Cim Smyth
|1995 || Dusty Whittemore
|-
|1996 || Dusty Whittemore
|-
|1997 || Tony Willis
|-
|1998 || Charlie Jordan
|-
|1999 || Ryan Redington
|-
|2000 || Ryan Redington
|-
|2001 || Tyrell Seavey
|-
|2002 || Cali King
|-
|2003 || Ellie Claus
|-
|2004 || Nicole Osmar
|-
|2005
|| Melissa Owens
|-
|2006 || Micah T. Degarlund
|-
|2007 || Rohn Buser
|-
|2008 || Jessica Klejka
|-
|2009 || Cain Carter
|-
|2010 || Merissa Osmar
|-
2011 Jeremiah Klejka
1 E5 m
A length of 100 kilometers , as a rough amount, is relatively common in measurements on Earth and for some astronomical objects.It is the altitude at which the FAI defines spaceflight to begin....
) sled dog race
Dogsled racing
Sled dog racing is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sleddogs that pull a sled with the dog driver or musher standing on the runners...
for mushers
Mushing
Mushing is a general term for a sport or transport method powered by dogs, and includes carting, pulka, scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled on snow or a rig on dry land...
between the ages of 14 through 17, which is patterned after the 1,049 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The race is held outside Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, and was the first long-distance race for juvenile mushers.
With the encouragement of "Go for it" Joe Redington
Joe Redington
Joe Redington, Senior was an American dog musher and kennel owner, who is best known as the "Father of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race", which runs 1,049 miles¹ across the U.S. state of Alaska.-Early life:...
, Senior, the Jr. Iditarod was established 1977 by Eric Beeman, Rome Gilman, Karl Clausen, Kenny Pugh, and Clarence Shockley, who were unable to compete in the Iditarod because they were less than 18 years of age. In October 1987, the Jr. Iditarod officially became part of the Iditarod Trail Committee, which manages the senior race. Presently Jr. Iditarod is once again a separate organization backed by the Iditarod to a great extent as well as other sponsors.
| Route |
|---|
| Settler's Bay to Knik Knik River, Alaska Knik River is a census-designated place in Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is part of the Anchorage, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area... (8 mi/13 km)they are usually stockings and food and money |
| Knik to Burma Road (9 mi/14 km) |
| Burma Road to Susitna River Susitna River The Susitna River is a long river in the Southcentral Alaska. It is the 15th largest river in the United States of America, ranked by average discharge volume at its mouth. The river stretches from the Susitna Glacier to Cook Inlet.... (23 mi/37 km) |
| Susitna River to Eagle Song (14 mi/23 km) |
| Eagle Song to Yentna Station (15 mi/24 km) |
| 8 to 12 hour layover |
| Yentna Station Eagle Song (15 mi/24 km) |
| Eagle Song to Susitna River (14 mi/23 km) |
| Susitna River to Burma Road (23 mi/37 km) |
| Burma Road to Knik (9 mi/14 km) A common route runs from |
| Settler's Bay to Knik, (8 mi/13 km) |
| Finish |
| Distance: 138 mi (222 km) |
The Jr. Iditarod race is designed as a long-distance race, as opposed to a "sprint, or speed race", and is intended to help prepare younger mushers for the even longer Iditarod. The race commonly runs from Settler's Bay for 69 miles (111 km) along the Iditarod Trail
Iditarod Trail
The Iditarod Trail, also known historically as the Seward-to-Nome Mail Trail, refers to a thousand-plus mile historic and contemporary trail system in the U.S...
to the Yetna Station Roadhouse
Roadhouse (facility)
A roadhouse is a commercial establishment typically built on a major road or highway, to service passing travellers. Its meaning varies slightly by country.-USA:...
. Trail location may vary year to year depending on trial conditions and due to poor conditions locally has started and finished in the Willow as well as the Lake Louise areas. At the half way point mushers must care for their sled dogs and camp overnight for either 8 or 12 hours, before returning the following day. The first Jr. Iditarod had junior, kids 11 through 13 years of age and running 4 to six dogs, and senior divisions,kids 14 through 17 years running a maximum of 10 dogs. the junior division ran a total of 18 miles and 40 miles (58 and 64 km), for the senior class respectively. Senior mushers spent the night camping with their dogs at Mud Lake in the Big lake area. By the second year due to logistics, the two divisions were abolished, age was now 14 through 17, and the distance was increased to 90 miles (145 km) in 1978, and then to 120 miles (193 km) in 1979. Each team is composed of between 5 and 10 sled dog
Sled dog
Sled dogs, known also as sleigh man dogs, sledge dogs, or sleddogs, are highly trained types of dogs that are used to pull a dog sled, a wheel-less vehicle on runners also called a sled or sleigh, over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines.Sled dogs have become a popular winter recreation...
s, and is required to carry the same equipment as the competitors in the Iditarod.
The Jr. Iditarod is held in the weekend before the Iditarod. The winner of the junior event takes the honorary first position out of the chute during the ceremonial start of the longer race in Anchorage on the first Saturday in March, and leads the pack to the first checkpoint, normally 20 miles (32 km
1 E4 m
To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 10 and 100 kilometres . The myriametre is a deprecated unit name; the prefix myria- is obsolete, not included among the prefixes when the International System of Units was introduced in 1960.Distances shorter than 10...
) away in Eagle River
Eagle River (Alaska)
There are three rivers named Eagle River in the U.S. state of Alaska.Eagle River in Anchorage flows northwest from Eagle Glacier to Eagle Bay in Cook Inlet, 15 km northeast of Anchorage. Its Dena'ina name was Yukla-hina. The Anchorage suburb of Eagle River is named after this river...
.
Jr. Iditarod mushers are mostly from Alaska, though the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
Montana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Georgia, Washington, Pennsylvania, Yukon Territory,Canada, have been represented, and Thomas Krejci of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
became the first international competitor in 1992, also winning the Humanitarian Award that year. All mushers are between the ages of 14 and 18, and frequently train their own teams of sled dog
Sled dog
Sled dogs, known also as sleigh man dogs, sledge dogs, or sleddogs, are highly trained types of dogs that are used to pull a dog sled, a wheel-less vehicle on runners also called a sled or sleigh, over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines.Sled dogs have become a popular winter recreation...
s. A number of previous competititors have gone on to compete in the longer Iditarod, including Lance Mackey, Tim Osmar, Ramey Smyth, and Cim Smyth, to name but a few.
USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
$15,000 in scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
money was awarded last year. Of primary concern to Jr. Iditarod are animal care, sportsmanship and furthering education, as well as promotion of our sport. The first three finishers receive $5,000, $2,500, and $1,500, respectively. The winners of the Sportsmanship Award, chosen by their fellow mushers; and the Humanitarian Award, chosen by the race veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
s, win $1,000 each. The winner also receives round trip tickets to the Iditarod Awards Banquet in Nome
Nome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...
with their parents. All finishers receive a trophy, a patch, and prizes donated by local businesses. Other awards are the Blue Harness, given to the best lead dog; the Rookie of the Year, given to the top musher among those competing for the first time; and the Red Lantern, given to the last to finish.
2005 Jr. Iditarod
The 28th annual Jr. Iditarod in 2005 had 21 competitors, including 11 females, 10 males. Twelve were rookies running their first Jr. Iditarod. All were from Alaska, though one of the two entrants who withdrew before the start of the race were from ColoradoColorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
Melissa Owens won on February 27, in 10 hours, 51 minutes, 27 seconds. On March 5 she was the first musher out of the chute during the ceremonial first leg of the 2005 Iditarod
2005 Iditarod
The ceremonial start of the 33rd annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the US state of Alaska began in Anchorage on March 5, 2005 at 10 AM AKST , and restarted in Willow the next day at 2 PM...
, representing honorary musher Jirdes Winther Baxter, the last known survivor of the children who were saved from a diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
by the historic 1925 serum run to Nome. Second and third place went to Rohn Buser and Dallas Seavey, sons of former Iditarod champions Martin Buser
Martin Buser
Martin Buser is a champion of sled dog racing.Martin Buser began mushing at age seventeen in Switzerland. In 1979, Buser moved to Alaska to train and raise sled dogs full time...
and Mitch Seavey
Mitch Seavey
Mitch Seavey is an American dog musher, who won the 1,112-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska in 2004.Seavey competed in his first Iditarod in 1982, and in every race since 1995. In the 1995 race, he started in Seward, and completed the entire length of the Iditarod...
. Dallas Seavey, whose birthday is on March 4, became the first musher to compete in both the Jr. Iditarod and the Iditarod in the same year. The Red Lantern was Amy Gundlach.
List of Jr. Iditarod winners
{| align="center" class="toccolours" style="margin: 0 .4em; font-size: 100%"|+ style="text-align:left" align=bottom |ITC (2005). Media.
! style="background: #ccf" | Year
! style="background: #ccf" | Musher
|-
|1978 || Mike Neuman Senior Division,
Joe Good Junior Division
|-
|1979 || Clint Mayeur,
|-
|1980 || Gary Baumgartner
|-
|1981 || Christine Delia
|-
|1982 || Tim Osmar
|-
|1983 || Tim Osmar
|-
|1984 || Tim Osmar
|-
|1985 || Lance Barve
|-
|1986 || Lance Barve
|-
|1987 || Dusty VanMeter
|-
|1988 || Dan Flodin
|-
|1989 || Jared Jones
|-
|1990 || Jared Jones
|-
|1991 || Brian Hanson
|-
|1992 || Ramey Smyth
|-
|1993 || Ramey Smyth
|-
|1994 || Cim Smyth
|1995 || Dusty Whittemore
|-
|1996 || Dusty Whittemore
|-
|1997 || Tony Willis
|-
|1998 || Charlie Jordan
|-
|1999 || Ryan Redington
|-
|2000 || Ryan Redington
|-
|2001 || Tyrell Seavey
|-
|2002 || Cali King
|-
|2003 || Ellie Claus
|-
|2004 || Nicole Osmar
|-
|2005
2005 Iditarod
The ceremonial start of the 33rd annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the US state of Alaska began in Anchorage on March 5, 2005 at 10 AM AKST , and restarted in Willow the next day at 2 PM...
|| Melissa Owens
|-
|2006 || Micah T. Degarlund
|-
|2007 || Rohn Buser
|-
|2008 || Jessica Klejka
|-
|2009 || Cain Carter
|-
|2010 || Merissa Osmar
|-
2011 Jeremiah Klejka