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 History of the Race
Joe Redington organized the modern Iditarod race. He is known as the "Father of the Iditarod". The first race of the complete trail was in 1973. One possible meaning of the word Iditarod is "clear water". The modern race memorializes Balto, a sled dog who played an important role in Alaskan history. In 1925 many children in Nome became ill with Diphtheria. All medicine in Nome was used up and the nearest supply was in Anchorage. A train took the medicine to Nenana, and then a dog sled relay was organized to take it the rest of the way. The relay took a week. Balto was the lead sled dog of the team led by musher Leonhard Seppala. He is famous for working very hard to finish the race. Another dog named Togo is known as the animal that went the longest distance in the relay of the serum, he´s also a Leader in Seppala´s Team.
Lynda Plettner at the Iditarod
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Year
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Position
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Time
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1990
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44
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16:00:29:39
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1991
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52
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21:21:04:06
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1992
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39
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14:02:46:50
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1993
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28
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14:17:54:50
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1994
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29
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12:19:54:30
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1998
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33
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11:23:53:20
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1999
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38
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13:02:58:00
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2000
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66
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15:01:03:23
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2002
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20
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10:02:34:24
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2003
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30
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11:23:05:25
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2004
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35
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11:05:02:06
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Current Iditarod 2004 Statistics
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Lynda has reached Nome and finished in 35 place.
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Date
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Time
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Dogs
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Into Nome:
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03/18
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15:02:06
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10
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Total Checkpoint Rest Time (hrs:min): 141:23
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Total Overall Trail Time (hrs:min): 176:58
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Avg. Overall Speed: 4.09 mph.
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Finish Time: 11 Days, 5 Hours, 2 Min., 6 Secs.
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98-Race dedicated to Joel Kottke
"My dogs are special, not just because they are mine but because of their background. In the early 1980's, I teamed by with the late Joel Kotke to work towards creating a comprehensive and competitive kennel of Arctic wolf/sled dogs. Joel first ran wolf/dogs when he competed in the 1974 Iditarod. My 1998 team was composed of that same line of dogs. The "1998 A Team" was a group of sixteen dogs that were energetic, focused, well conditioned and performed like a wonderful piece of machinery. Joel would have been proud of his dogs. I dedicated the race to him and his love of animals."
Musher runs with angels
Sponsor puts her back in great race
by B. Bragg, Daily News executive sports editor (1998)
..with an Angel on her shoulder and another in her sled, 10-time Iditarod veteran Lynda Plettner was back on the trail to Nome after a three-year abscence.
Among the basking in the glorious sunshine was Plettner, a Houston Musher whose team featured two dogs - Fisher King an Ballistic - from Joel Kottke´s wolf-dog bloodline. Kottke, a Wasilla musher and breeder, who died in October at 84, was a mentor and close friend of Plettner´s and is one of two honorary mushers for this years race. He´ll be Plettner´s guardian angel as she makes her sixth 1,100-mile journey to Nome..
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Legislature Honors Musher
Anchorage Daily News, 10.01.98
One Year after his death at age 84, Joel Wesley Kottke has been honored with a memorial legislative citation.
"The twentieth Alaksa State Legislature honors the life an accomplishments of Joel Kottke, whose love of sled dogs and contributions to the mushing community helped preserve a unique elemet of our state´s culture for modern Alaskans and for the world." the citation reads.
Kottke came to Alaska in 1951. He and his wife Martha homesteaded in Anchorage and he became a "fixture at the early Fur Rendezvous races, checking out all the dogs and interviewing racers before the start," according to the citation.
Kottke was race marshal in 1967 for the Iditarod Trail-Leonhard Seppala Memorial Race, the first modern dog race along the Iditarod Trail. Kottke ran the race in 1974 with a wolf-dog team. In 1977 he was again the Iditarods race marshal. Kottke died Oct. 1, 1997, and was honored posthumously by the Iditarod Trail Committee by being named Honorary musher for the 1998 iditarod.
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P.O. Box 299136 Wasilla, Alaska 99629
Phone: 907-892-6944 - Fax: 907-892-6945 - email: lynda@plettner-kennels.com
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