I chose Martin Buser to follow during the Iditarod.  He lives in Alaska.  He was born in 1958.  He came to Alaska in 1979.  He loves sled dogs.  I chose him because he had some wins already, and I wanted someone with a win.

I read Kavik during the Iditarod.  Kavik is an endangered wolf puppy who is in a cage and very smart.  I predicted that people would somehow keep the dog.  So they decided to keep Kavik, and Kavik had a broken rib and couldn’t swallow either.  They called a doctor for help, but the doctor didn’t want to help a dog.  The doctor also thought Kavik was a wolf.  The most exciting part to me was when Kavik went to see the doctor because it’s live or die and you don’t know if he will heal or die.

There was some excellent writing in the book.  Instead of saying they went around the corner, the author said, “The sled rounded the corner, sending snow flying!”  The author also said the dog shrieked, and the author made the story so sad.

I learned a lot about mushing during the race.  Dogs love running.  The dogs and mushers can explore so much.  Sled dogs are really fast.  I think a dog should never get sick if the musher takes good care of the dog.  I thought the GPS was helpful because you can see where your musher is.  The videos of the race were funny.

I made a list of strong Iditarod verbs to use in my writing.  I chose blow, mush, run, hustle, hurry, sleep, eat, hike, ride, and explore.

I compared the sport of mushing to a sport I enjoy a lot, basketball.  Basketball is different because you dribble, shoot, pass to people, have a certain time limit, and can only have five playing.  Mushing is different because you have as much time as you need, you have a lot of people racing at the same time, you ride, if you win you get a prize, and the last person over the finish line gets a prize too.  They are the same because you hurry, train, talk, use your brain, go quickly, have action, and can get hurt.