Exercise 4: The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race 4

 

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race 4
4Match the words to the definitions. 

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual long-distance sled dog race in Alaska from Anchorage to Nome over a distance of almost 1600 km. Each driver (called a musher) has a team of sixteen dogs. They cover the distance of the race in 9–15 days. Teams often have to race through severe weather conditions. They travel through deep snow, heavy winds, storms and icy conditions, sometimes as cold as −73 °C.

The race has certain rules. For example, each team has to have an arctic jacket, a heavy sleeping bag, snowshoes, dog food and boots for each dog's feet to protect against ice and snow. Each musher has a special method. Some prefer to run during the day, some at night. The mushers have to understand their dogs and how to look after them so that they can run fast and finish the race.

Part of the route travels over the Iditarod National Historic Trail. At the end of the nineteenth century, there were a lot of gold mines in northwest Alaska. Mushers and their dog teams were the fastest way to get supplies to the mines and to carry the $30 million of gold to the coast.

The first Iditarod Race was in 1973. It was a competition to find the best sled dog mushers and teams in Alaska. Today, it is an international sport with participants from many countries including Canada, Great Britain, Norway, Italy and Japan. The fastest winner of the race was John Baker in 2011 with a time of 8 days, 19 hours, 46 minutes, and 39 seconds.

The Iditarod Race - also known as the Last Great Race on Earth - is one of the toughest endurance races in the world; it is a test of human strength against the force of nature. You have to be strong and patient. It also helps to have experience - the winner of the race in 2013 was 53 years old.

supplies

annual

mine

participants

trail

method

  • road, route
  • people who take part in something
  • food, clothing, medicine
  • a way of doing something
  • once a year
  • a place where people dig for coal, diamonds etc.
Answers