Have you heard of the Iditarod?

[BigT]

I haven’t heard of it. Sled dog racing isn’t exactly a sport I hear anything about. I only know it even exists from movies.

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.

[panache45]

@elfkin477

Iditarod is one of my favorite words. But OP, sometimes things like this happen, with things that feel like they should common knowledge. I had a conversation that gave me a similar WTF feeling when I realized I was talking to three people who had never even heard of The Dark Crystal, let alone had an opinion about it.

Uh… I never heard of The Dark Crystal. Is it as common knowledge as the Iditarod?

[madmonk28]

Yes, I’d heard of it, was everyone in the group from the US?

[MrDibble]

I’ve heard of it and i’m not American.

@Alessan

Dog sled racing is huge in my country, so of course I’ve heard of it.

Is this sarcasm, or is it true? I want it to be true, it’d be like Mongolians being mad-keen followers of surfing

[Alessan]

@MrDibble

Is this sarcasm, or is it true? I want it to be true, it’d be like Mongolians being mad-keen followers of surfing

Just joking, unfortunately.

[iiandyiiii]

I remember reading a story in elementary school about a sled dog race (don’t remember the title or author – maybe Jack London or maybe not) in which a young boy races with a single dog whose heart explodes from the exertion at the end of the race – it stuck with me enough that I wanted to learn more about sled-dog racing. I’m not even sure if the story was about the Iditarod, but I remember being familiar with that race since childhood (in the 80s), due to reading that story.

EDIT: I think this might have been it: Stone Fox - Wikipedia

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

@iiandyiiii

I remember reading a story in elementary school about a sled dog race (don’t remember the title or author – maybe Jack London or maybe not) in which a young boy races with a single dog whose heart explodes from the exertion at the end of the race – it stuck with me enough that I wanted to learn more about sled-dog racing. I’m not even sure if the story was about the Iditarod, but I remember being familiar with that race since childhood (in the 80s).

Stone Fox. Read it to my kids and it nearly broke me.

The Iditarod is more than a sporting event- it helps us remember a historically resonant event and makes you realize there was a time when most people recognized horror that is diphtheria.

[don_t_ask]

I’m an Australian in my 60s and I have known about it since long before the internet.

[MrAtoz]

Well, this is embarrassing.

I actually do know what the Iditarod is, and as soon as I read the OP with its references to sled dogs and racing, I remembered it correctly.

But my first thought, on reading ONLY the thread title, was: “Of course. It’s that big arts festival in Wales.”

No, that’s the Eisteddfod.

[BrotherCadfael]

“Alaska, where Men are Men… and Women win the Iditarod!”

[Chefguy]

Well, sure, but then I’m Alaskan by birth. My wife and I went to the ceremonial start every year from 1999-2009 when we lived there.

Here are some more obscure dog races: who has heard of the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous dog races? How about the Yukon Quest? Kuskokwim 300?

There’s also the Iron Dog, which is the world’s toughest and longest snow machine race at 2,031 miles. The record time is just over 35 hours, which means the sleds are averaging nearly 60 mph.

[iiandyiiii]

@Chefguy

Well, sure, but then I’m Alaskan by birth. My wife and I went to the ceremonial start every year from 1999-2009 when we lived there.

Here are some more obscure dog races: who has heard of the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous dog races? How about the Yukon Quest? Kuskokwim 300?

There’s also the Iron Dog, which is the world’s toughest and longest snow machine race at 2,031 miles. The record time is just over 35 hours, which means the sleds are averaging nearly 60 mph.

No dogs in the “Iron Dog”? I object!

[thorny_locust]

@kambuckta

Universal common knowledge.

There isn’t really any such thing.

I will say that it was fun to have a poll I could actually answer on its own terms without caveats.

@BrotherCadfael

“Alaska, where Men are Men… and Women win the Iditarod!”

I think that’s what I like most about it. A physical sport event in which adult men and women compete together on equal terms; and sometimes a woman wins.

I don’t know whether this is an indication that this is about the distance needed to put the groups on an equal level, or whether it has to do with the need to work with the dogs. Or, of course, a combination of the two.

[Thudlow_Boink]

@Kimstu

No. Four is a small enough number that it’s quite likely to find a group of four people who share a somewhat unexpected characteristic purely by random chance.

In North America, is it more likely that a randomly selected group of four college-educated people will contain at least one person who’s heard of the Iditarod than that none of the four will have heard of it? Probably, IMHO. Is it seriously remarkable and bizarre that a randomly selected group of four college-educated people will not contain even one person who’s heard of the Iditarod? Not at all, IMHO.

As of right now, only 2.91% of the people responding to this poll have not heard of the Iditarod.

If the percentage is similar among the general population, and if the four people mentioned by the OP can be considered a representative sample of that population (both extremely questionable assumptions), the probability that none of them would have heard of the Iditarod is 0.00007170871761‬%.

Although, apparently my browser’s spellchecker hasn’t heard of the Iditarod either.

[ThisSpaceForRent]

Why yes…I have followed it since I first heard of it in the mid 70’s.

I am a founding member of an Iditarod internet group that has been together since the mid 90’s. We started on Cabela’s website then Cabela’s shut it down. Bering Straight School District graciously donated web space for our site to migrate to…When they abandoned us we formed out own site. I wrote the “Posting Guidelines” IditaProject Forum • View topic - Forum Guidelines - Please read before posting

I have been in contact with a lot of World Class mushers and started a feature on the website called “ask the Musher” where we would get mushers to participate 9for a week or so) on the forum answering questions… Here is a link to the first ever “Ask the Musher” Karen Ramstead …Karen races 100% purebred Siberian Huskies. Most musher race “hybrids” or Mixed bread dogs commonly called Alaskan Huskies or Alaskan yard dogs.

I even once tried a Ask the Iditarodaholic…also restaraunt manger… thread here at SDMB.

My vote is yes, I know a LOT about the Iditarod.

[kopek]

One of the things on my bucket list is seeing it in person. No desire to compete but I would like to hit a couple sections and watch.

[Chefguy]

@ThisSpaceForRent

Here is a link to the first ever “Ask the Musher” Karen Ramstead …Karen races 100% purebred Siberian Huskies. Most musher race “hybrids” or Mixed bread dogs commonly called Alaskan Huskies or Alaskan yard dogs.

My vote is yes, I know a LOT about the Iditarod.

My bolding. Perhaps that’s why she’s never won. Siberians are beautiful, but not the best for long haul plus speed.

My wife and I worked two Iditarods; one year on the computers, and one year clearing people off the streets for the race start. Lots of fun.

Kopek: if you ever decide to follow through on your Iditarod dream, check with Bullitt, who went this year.

[kaylasdad99]

@Chefguy

Well, sure, but then I’m Alaskan by birth. My wife and I went to the ceremonial start every year from 1999-2009 when we lived there.

Here are some more obscure dog races: who has heard of the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous dog races? How about the Yukon Quest? Kuskokwim 300?

There’s also the Iron Dog, which is the world’s toughest and longest snow machine race at 2,031 miles. The record time is just over 35 hours, which means the sleds are averaging nearly 60 mph.

@iiandyiiii

No dogs in the “Iron Dog”? I object!

I hope nobody ever tells you about the Iron Horse; I’d hate for you to get a aneurysm…

[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!

[dalej42]

It actually might be easier today to not have heard of it, it used to get coverage on Wide World of Sports as well as the news, but it’s easier to live in a social media bubble and many people don’t watch the news or keep it to strictly sports news or politics.