“According to historians, awarding the Red Lantern for the last-place finisher has become an Alaska tradition in sled dog racing. The award honors the final team’s dedication to fulfilling their goal of safely and successful crossing under the burled arch .”
What is the Red Lantern Award for?
The Red Lantern is an award given to the Iditarod’s last place finisher . The tradition dates back to 1953, when the first red lantern was given as a joke at the Fur Rendezvous Race in Anchorage. The award was eventually passed on to the Iditarod when the race began in 1973.
What is the red lantern award and why it is awarded?
The Red Lantern Award is for the last finisher in the dog team race from Anchorage to Nome . It’s an award for perseverance instead of abandoning the race. The name comes from an analogy with trains where traditionally the guard’s van, the last wagon on the train, had a red lantern as a warning to any following train.
Who was the Red Lantern Award given to?
Veteran Iditarod musher Victoria Hardwick (bib #48) , of Bethel, Alaska, is the final musher to cross the finish line in Deshka Landing at 12:22 a.m. today, claiming the Red Lantern Award. Hardwick and her race team completed the Iditarod in 10 days, 9 hours, 22 minutes and 6 seconds.
What is the Red Lantern Award What is the longest time for the Red Lantern Award?
The longest race time for a Red Lantern winner was 32 days, 15 hours, 9 minutes and 1 second by John Schultz in 1973, while the fastest time came from Cindy Abbott in 2017, when she finished in 12 days, 2 hours, 57 minutes and 31 seconds.
Why is it called Red Lantern?
The Red Lantern Award is for the last finisher in the dog team race from Anchorage to Nome . It’s an award for perseverance instead of abandoning the race. The name comes from an analogy with trains where traditionally the guard’s van, the last wagon on the train, had a red lantern as a warning to any following train.
What is awarded to the last musher to finish the race?
The Red Lantern Award
The Red Lantern is given to the last musher who crosses the finish line and completes the Iditarod.
What does the word Iditarod mean?
It means distant place .” James Kari, Assistant Professor, University of Alaska Native Language Center in 1979 stated: “The name Iditarod came from an Ingalik and Holikachuk word hidedhod for the Iditarod River. This name means distant or distant place.
Who is the father of Iditarod?
Joe Redington Sr. is the ‘Father of the Iditarod’. He and Dorothy Page always shared their roles as the co-founders of “Last Great Race on Earth”. But it has been Joe Sr’s pathway to Alaska that was so fortuitous for the global mushing community, raising awareness about the sled dog.
Who is the first woman to win the Iditarod?
They work together traversing nearly 1000 miles of brutal conditions across the frozen landscapes of the Alaskan tundra. Author Matt Geiger shares the story of Wisconsin native, Libby Riddles , the first woman to win this world-renowned race.
Who won the Red Lantern Award?
Victoria Hardwick claims the Red Lantern Award, last musher to cross the finish line. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – At 12:22 a.m. Thursday, veteran Iditarod musher Victoria Hardwick, bib number 48, crossed the finish line in Deshka Landing claiming the Red Lantern Award.
Which musher has won the most Iditarod races?
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Ever since Dallas Seavey became the youngest musher to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 2012, he’s been bombarded by questions on whether he would eventually get five race titles, the most ever by a musher.
Why does the Iditarod alternate between a northern route and a southern route every year?
Every year they had to handle large numbers of people, dogs, fans, etc . In 1977, the board of directors made the decision to split the route into a Northern and Southern route and to alternate the route from year to year.
Why is the race called the Iditarod?
Redington had two reasons for organizing the long-distance Iditarod Race: to save the sled dog culture and Alaskan huskies , which were being phased out of existence due to the introduction of snowmobiles in Alaska; and to preserve the historical Iditarod Trail between Seward and Nome.
Who is the mother of the Iditarod?
For her role as “mother” of the Iditarod and for all her later contributions to the race before her death in 1989 at age 68, Dorothy Page was chosen as the Honorary Musher for Iditarod 25. A self-described history buff, Page saw her first sled dog race in 1960, shortly after moving to Alaska from New Mexico.
What is the final checkpoint in the Iditarod before Nome?
Satellite View . The last checkpoint before Nome, just 22 miles away. Here the mushers are on the coast of the Bering Sea and travel on the beach most of the way to Nome.
