Lyceum

 

Brad did a presentation with our class at the end of April after he returned to North Dakota. Here he is with his red lantern award for 1998. He has broken the record and now holds the fastest last place finish in the 26 years of the Iditarod race. He finished the race in 14 days, 5 hours, and 42 minutes. His time would have won 9 of the previous races. He is also the only Red Lantern winner who was able to attend the final Musher's Banquet.

 

 

Brad made his own cooker for the race. Some can be purchased, but are expensive. $300 is a lot of money to spend on one when you can make your own. His is made from a 5-gallon steel bucket with a bread pan in the bottom. You put your fuel in the bottom, light it and then put water or snow in there to cook.It would take 15 minutes for hot water to boil and 25 minutes for snow. He had dog snacks prepackaged in ziploc type bags and then just dropped them in when the water was hot. You have to watch the bags closely so they don't hit the sides of the cooker or they stick and melt! He even placed his own food bags in with the rest. Some of the things he cooked for his dogs included...fish heads, beef, chicken, dog food, liver, and food high in fat. Dogs and mushers burn plenty of calories and they need to take a lot in, too. Brad's favorite snack food on the trail were Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. He enjoyed the meals that were provided by checkpoint staff for the mushers along the trail, too. He occasionally ate steak, pizza, spaghetti,rice, gravy, ribeye, and chili. He lost about 30 pounds during the race.

 

 

Brad showed us a very important brake he made. It is located at the back of his sled. If you look closely, you will be able to see the sharp points on it. He steps on it and forces it into the ground. It's good to secure and slow down the sled when he needs it. It works really good on the ice.

 

 

Brad explained the importance of being able to safely secure the team on the trail and checkpoints. An effective tool that all mushers have is their snowhook. You can secure it in snow, ice, or even a tree if need be. Whatwith the power of so many dogs, mushers need something to assure them their team won't be leaving without them.

 

Runners were another important item Brad needed plenty of during this race. These are a sample of some of the plastic runners he used. The black are good when it's cold and soft. He uses the yellow when it's warm and there is lots of gravel. They are hard and don't wear out as fast. He went through 14 sets of runners! At the end of the race had to push his sled since his last pair had worn out.