# Have you heard of the Iditarod? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 8, 2019, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697 "2019-07-08T04:27:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/41 "2019-07-08T18:05:33Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’ve heard of it and i’m not American. > > Is this sarcasm, or is it true? I want it to be true, it’d be like Mongolians being mad-keen followers of surfing 🙂 Or, [a Jamaican Olympic bob-sled team.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106611/?ref_=nv_sr_4?ref_=nv_sr_4) ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/42 "2019-07-08T18:21:57Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Uh… I never heard of The Dark Crystal. Is it as common knowledge as the Iditarod? Same here. I did look up The Dark Crystal and it doesn’t ring any bells. In my little corner of the universe, the Iditarod is MUCH better known. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/43 "2019-07-08T18:37:18Z")
I’m gonna offer a slightly different excuse: Yes, when I saw the question,I recognized the word,and thought to myself “dogsled race”. But—If you just said it out loud, with no context, I think I would ask: “Huh? What did you say?” It’s back there in my brain somewhere, but strictly as passive knowledge. “Iditarod” is a word that I recognize when I see it, but don’t know how to pronounce, and have never used it or heard it used in conversation. So if I was sitting there on the couch with your family playing Taboo that night, you’d just have to think of me as a visitor; one of your poorly-educated distant cousins, who you let join in 'cause you don’t want to insult him. Sorry 'bout that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/44 "2019-07-08T18:50:09Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Common knowledge. I thought so, too. > [@UDS](#): > > The OP gives his location as “the earth”, but in Chinese characters. So we should consider the possibility that he’s not in the US or Canada. > > In which case, the possiblity of his circle including many people who have never heard of this race is pretty high. I have lived in Europe and Australia, and I have never heard of it. We are in the United States and are all from the United States > [@madmonk28](#): > > Yes, I’d heard of it, was everyone in the group from the US? Yes, all from the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/45 "2019-07-08T19:01:32Z")
I have heard it mentioned more than once on occasion but I never knew what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/46 "2019-07-08T19:15:24Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Uh… I never heard of The Dark Crystal. Is it as common knowledge as the Iditarod? Here’s another one who had to look up The Dark Crystal. But the Iditarod - sure, and I’m from the UK. I could even tell you, without looking, that one of the most successful mushers over the years (maybe \*the \*most?) was a woman. Can’t remember the name, though. j ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/47 "2019-07-08T19:53:44Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Here’s another one who had to look up The Dark Crystal. But the Iditarod - sure, and I’m from the UK. I could even tell you, without looking, that one of the most successful mushers over the years (maybe \*the \*most?) was a woman. Can’t remember the name, though. > > j You’re thinking of Susan Butcher, who was the second woman to win it, and the second person to win it four times (after Rick Swenson, who has now won it a record five times). She was also the first person to win it in four out of five years. The first and only other woman to win it was Libby Riddles. I used to work with her brother. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/48 "2019-07-08T20:35:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Here are some more obscure dog races: who has heard of the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous dog races? Of course, the best thing to do at Rondy is the _Running of the Reindeer_!! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/49 "2019-07-08T21:31:01Z")
So, OP are you going to show your family this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/50 "2019-07-08T22:31:30Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > So, OP are you going to show your family this thread? I showed my wife, who was one of the people who gave me blank stares. She gets is, but didn’t have a huge response. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/51 "2019-07-08T23:04:39Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > You can post a letter that is then specially franked acknowledging that it has been carried ??? Kilometres by dogsled! > > I sent a couple, including one to myself! 😃 I have a few…signed by all mushers in the race that year…and a few more singularly signed. Compliments of Paul (and Evey) Gebhart ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/52 "2019-07-08T23:17:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > You’re thinking of Susan Butcher, who was the second woman to win it, and the second person to win it four times (after Rick Swenson, who has now won it a record five times). She was also the first person to win it in four out of five years. The first and only other woman to win it was Libby Riddles. I used to work with her brother. [Aliy Zirkle](https://iditarod.com/race/mushers/115-Aliy-Zirkle/) has been trying like hell to be the Third woman to win but she has had some very tough happenings the past few years… On a side note, [Newton Marshall - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_Marshall) is a Jamaican musher who was sponsored by Jimmy Buffet and trained by my favorite musher of all times…[Lance Mackey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Mackey) small world…isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/53 "2019-07-08T23:52:18Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > [Aliy Zirkle](https://iditarod.com/race/mushers/115-Aliy-Zirkle/) has been trying like hell to be the Third woman to win but she has had some very tough happenings the past few years… > > On a side note, [Newton Marshall - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_Marshall) is a Jamaican musher who was sponsored by Jimmy Buffet and trained by my favorite musher of all times…[Lance Mackey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Mackey) > > small world…isn’t it? She’s pretty tough and has come close three times. Deedee Jonrowe is a perennial participant and has also been runner-up several times. She once ran the race three weeks after completing chemo for breast cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/54 "2019-07-09T00:02:31Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m honestly surprised the results are so lopsided in favor of knowing about it. I figured it was a sport people only paid attention to if they live in a place where snow covers the ground most of the year, which would not be most of the US. It just demonstrates how useless polls here are. I would bet that fewer than 10% of the U.S. population knows what the Iditarod is and probably fewer than 20% of members here actually know, yet 98% of us (so far) responded affirmatively to the poll. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/55 "2019-07-09T01:00:29Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > It just demonstrates how useless polls here are. I would bet that fewer than 10% of the U.S. population knows what the Iditarod is and probably fewer than 20% of members here actually know, yet 98% of us (so far) responded affirmatively to the poll. I disagree. In my kids’ elementary school they talked about it, read book about it; it was a thing. The movie Balto is about the serum run which connects to the Iditarod. The actual race is shown on TV and in the papers and social media. It doesn’t really surprise me that some folks don’t know about it, but I’d be shocked if the vast majority of adults didn’t know. It’s a very romantic idea that captures the imagination of kids and adults alike. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/56 "2019-07-09T01:00:57Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Very well known. I can forgive people easily for not knowing what the Barkley Marathons is but the Iditarod? It’s been in the press for decades. I love threads like these because of comments like this one. I had no idea the Barkley Marathons existed till your post. Is it easier or harder than the Western States 100 or the Telescope to Badwater race? ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/57 "2019-07-09T01:03:48Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I disagree. In my kids’ elementary school they talked about it, read book about it; it was a thing. The movie Balto is about the serum run which connects to the Iditarod. The actual race is shown on TV and in the papers and social media. > > It doesn’t really surprise me that some folks don’t know about it, but I’d be shocked if the vast majority of adults didn’t know… For awhile, Susan Butcher had a bit of acclaim as a musher. (EDIT: As Chefguy noted in depth, upthread) At least I remember ESPN or Wide World of Sports jabbering about her when they were trying to find events to televise. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/58 "2019-07-09T01:16:59Z")
I’ve been to the Iditarod as a volunteer (helping with phones and data entry) and saw both the ceremonial and official start. It’s awesome. I also follow it online at [iditarod.com](http://iditarod.com) . Someone earlier said something about animal abuse: Nothing could be farther from the truth. If any musher is found (after due process) to have mistreated a dog in any way, the sanctions are severe, and could include being banned for life from dog racing. The dogs are checked by veterinarians before, during and after the race. The dogs LOVE to run. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/59 "2019-07-09T02:11:48Z")
Yes, but then my mother raised Siberian Huskies. Hers were companion dogs, one of which won brood bitch at Westminster back in the 80’s. Sadly, it was after she sold her, so the new kennel got the credit. Anyhoo, we used to schlep back and forth to a neighbor’s barn where he had a shortwave radio to hear updates on the Iditarod at all hours. Later we’d get updates on TV. It was a running joke that the race would never end if I was around to hear/see it. The winner always managed to cross the line while I was at school. or at work, or asleep, or some other thing. My mother almost never missed it, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. It’s been over a decade since I followed it though. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697/60 "2019-07-09T02:12:35Z")
I’ve heard of the race, read a couple things about it here in there but I would not have remembered the name. Of course, I haven’t lived in the States for several decades. There was nothing about it in Japanese media and I don’t follow Taiwanese media. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-iditarod/836697.md?page=4)