Iditarod 101 & Relive the stunning 2011 Iditarod Race

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IDITAROD
a novel of
The Greatest Race on Earth
by Andre Jute
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FEAR
"Family safe, sure, but more importantly, a mighty fine novel. Make me shiver just thinking about it. Of course I've been in the Alaska wilderness in winter, so muscle memory brings on the fear."
Gordon Ryan

Iditarod pages

Discover more about
IDITAROD a novel of the Greatest Race on Earth
Read a sample
Sample opening chapters
Sample chapters 1
Sample chapter 2
Librarian's Quest Review
Parlez-Moi Review
Interviews with Andre:
at Cookie's Book Club
at Scribbles & Tunes

Follow or Relive the Iditarod
How to Follow/Relive the Iditarod
Follow the Iditarod (1) with André
FREE screen-friendly MAP of the Iditarod race

Reminiscences of 1980 Iditarod winner Joe May

See the typography of the interior and cover of the print version of IDITAROD being developed

(1) Mirror site

If the race has not started, read on. You'll be glad you did. If the race has started, you can return here when you catch your breath. Meanwhile, take this shortcut:
Shortcut to IDITAROD The Greatest Race on Earth

Okay, so you've read IDITAROD a novel of the Greatest Race on Earth and you want to hug that excitement to you a little longer.
OR
You're new to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and you've arrived here from a net search or by recommendation. You want guidance through the complications and you want it now!
Read on.

The Iditarod is a huge race, over a 1000 miles of the most inhospitable and dangerous terrain in the world. It lasts a fortnight and involves, besides the racers (called "mushers") and their teams of dogs (many of whom are stars in their own right), thousands of volunteers. The publicity is huge. There is copious information, much of it doubtful or plain bad. At the same time there is often difficulty in getting relevant information in a timely manner. Even worse, this truly important race is a cottage industry. All the real experts know each other and cluster together. You need to find them to help you understand what the hell is going on. Permit me to show you how.

Oh, who am I? I'm André Jute, the handsome chap pictured left in Singapore on the day in 1977 when, oppressed by heat and humidity, I decided my next novel would be set in a very cold place. Thirteen years of research resulted in IDITAROD a novel of the Greatest Race on Earth. My qualification for simplying your path through the intricacies of Iditarod spectating isn't so much that I'm an expert but that I'm one of those people who always knows where to find the best of everything, including arcane specialists.
How to Follow the Race	Relive the 2011/2 Races
SETTING UP FOR THE CAMPAIGN First, understand the time commitment. The Iditarod is a marathon. For ten or eleven or twelve days, including two weekends, you will be glued to your screen day and night, a junkie for your next adrenaline fix. Get in enough food you can prepare quickly, and lots of snack food. Move your rower or exercise bicycle or whatever you use into position near the screen you will use.	SETTING UP FOR THE CAMPAIGN First, understand the time commitment. The Iditarod is a marathon. If you try to do this in real time, for ten or eleven or twelve days, including two weekends, you will be glued to your screen day and night, a junkie for your next adrenaline fix. Ration yourself to a reasonable number of hours per day and spread out the experience. Or don't start until you have a whole weekend clear to blitz it.
ADVANCE PREPARATION There are two key sites to mine for the facts and the background. If you're truly brand new to the Iditarod, you may need a week of spare time really to get into it. The Iditarod Trail Committee has huge amounts of information. Iditarod Trail and Race The Anchorage Daily News is your other friend, for the lighter touch and the story behind the story. Anchorage Daily News OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED These free videos will give you an understanding of the men, the dogs, and the lonely danger out there. They're also pretty entertaining. Free Videos RECOMMENDED Reading IDITAROD a novel of the Greatest Race on Earth, a highly researched novel of the race, shortcuts a great deal of what you need to understand before you can enjoy the action. It's like ten years of having your buddies and workmates coaching you about baseball or NASCAR.	ADVANCE PREPARATION There are two key sites to mine for the facts and the background. If you're truly brand new to the Iditarod, you may need a week of spare time really to get into it. If you've read IDITAROD a novel of the Greatest Race on Earth, a highly researched novel of the race, you've shortcut a great deal of what you need to understand before you can enjoy the action. The Iditarod Trail Committee has huge amounts of information. Iditarod Trail and Race The Anchorage Daily News is your other friend, for the lighter touch and the story behind the story. Anchorage Daily News OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED These free videos will give you an understanding of the men, the dogs, and the lonely danger out there. They're also pretty entertaining. Free Videos
SUBSCRIPTIONS The Iditarod Trail Committee sells two INSIDER services which can help the fan inform himself. If you want them, you need to subscribe and set up and debug these services in advance, because once the race starts it is a madhouse. USEFUL: GPS TRACKER The teams all carry GPS responders and by this means it is possible for subscribers to follow the racers (mostly) to within a few minutes and a few yards. INSIDER VIDEO An additional service. INSIDER subscription page	SUBSCRIPTIONS You don't need any. All the information you need is already on the page you will follow.
OPEN AND BOOKMARK THESE PAGES AND ONLY THESE PAGES So much information will flow across your screen, you can easily overload. These pages tell you everything you need to know, and offer a great deal of entertainment too. Any other page that you open you should close immediately you finish reading it, or you will soon drown in open pages. If you aren't on Alaskan Standard Time, because you live in a different time zone, you need a clock to tell race time. Drag small and put it top left of your screen. Alaskan Time You need a map to follow the race. This one was drawn specifically to work well on screen. Screen-friendly MAP of Iditarod race or you might like a good Weather Map You need the Official Current Standings. This can be from 15minutes to two hours behind the action, which is why you need the tracker and the experts. However, it is a very rich page, so spend idle moments when all the mushers are tending their dogs investigating the items in the menu bar of the current standings. Official Current Standings You need a guide through the flow of information. This is my selection of the nuggets of information that are relevant. It is only updated when I'm awake. Follow the Iditarod with Andre Every year there is one place where you will find the most helpful experts clustered together. In 2011, despite some heavyhanded early handling of fans by the ITC, it was the ITC's Facebook page. ITC Facebook Page Next year, when it could be a different place, I'll update this space.	OPEN AND BOOKMARK THESE PAGES AND ONLY THESE PAGES Any other page that you open you should close immediately you finish reading it, or you will soon drown in open pages. You need a map to follow the race. This one was drawn specifically to work well on screen. Screen-friendly MAP of Iditarod race or you might like a good Weather Map You need a guide through the flow of information. This is my selection of the nuggets of information that are relevant. Follow the Iditarod with Andre (1). Scroll to the bottom of the page. Hit "Older Posts" repeatedly until you come to the start of the race, then start reading upwards. (1) If in the fullness of time the live Facebook page stops working, this mirror image of it will be a reasonable substitute.
See you for the Iditarod next year if I don't see you for the Yukon Quest first.	See you live for the Iditarod if I don't see you for the Yukon Quest first.
Meanwhile, if you want more of the thrill, read IDITAROD a novel of the Greatest Race on Earth.	Meanwhile, if you want more of the thrill, read IDITAROD a novel of the Greatest Race on Earth — if you haven't already.

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