The Iditarod Project
Martin Buser?
Lance Mackey?
Jeff King?
Aliy Zirkle?
GB Jones?
Ed Iten?
DeeDee Jonrowe?
Mitch Seavey?
Hans Gatt?
| The Musher Draft Process |
Who do you think is going to win the 2008 Iditarod? How about Jeff King? Do you think his innovations will pay off again this year? Perhaps you prefer to back Martin Buser, Aliy Zirkle, Mitch Seavey or Rick Swenson; or maybe you think that it’s going to be Ed Iten’s year. Or maybe you think that Lance Mackey can take two in a row! There are a pile of amazing mushers out there to choose from! Whomever your choice, it’s time to start thinking about the Musher Draft. As you know, the points your team has been accumulating will determine your position in the Musher Draft; the more points you have, the better your position will be. In order to be prepared for the Draft, your team must research all of the mushers and decide who will be your top twelve choices, ranked in order. At this point, there are 94 mushers running in the Iditarod. In order to complete the research, your team must divide up the mushers so that everyone on the team researches either 18 or 19 mushers. Each team member must:
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The Research
What kind of information should you be looking for? Follow these helpful tips!
Here's where to find information about the mushers:
Look for the musher’s experience.
- How many years has he/she been mushing?
- Is mushing part of the family’s history?
- How many major distance races has he/she competed in?
- Has he/she won or placed in any major races?
- Are there other interesting facts that make you want to support this person?
Visit the musher’s web site.
- Find out information about the musher’s dogs; how experienced are they?
- Read what the musher has to say about him/herself. What impression do you get?
- Is there any information about the dogs’ physical conditioning for the Iditarod?
- Has the musher got any “new technology” (equipment, strategies) that might give him/her an edge?
Once the research is done, each team member should choose his or her top two contenders to bring back to the rest of the team.
Choosing and Ranking the Mushers
Step 1
Once everyone in the team has completed the research, each team member presents his/her research and gives the reasons for his/her choices of contenders. Everyone should take notes on each of the contenders.
Step 2
As a group, discuss the contenders and choose your top five in order of preference. Once you’ve done that, it will be easier to rank the remaining mushers. Write the names of your twelve contenders, in order, on the last page of the Musher Information Booklet. Make sure that you bring your booklet to the Musher Draft.
There could be mushers who may not be contenders for winning the race, but whom you would like to follow because they have piqued your interest in some way. Keep track of them so we can track them on the map.