Parka worn by Ken Anderson during the 2013 Iditarod race
name: label: user
content: Anderson, Ken
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Heavily insulate under parka is black nylon with four interior pockets and a high collar with Velcro closures worn by Ken Anderson during the 2013 Iditarod race. Ken Anderson began mushing at age 3 in his native Minnesota. He moved to Alaska in 1993 to attend the University of Alaska and began running the Iditarod in 1999. The Coast Guard has sponsored Anderson’s Iditarod runs from 2011 through 2013. He owns and operates Windy Creek Kennels with his wife, Gwen, also an Iditarod musher and they compete in sprint and marathon races in the lower ‘48’ and Europe. The Andersons are the first husband and wife to race in the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The Iditarod Sled Dog Race is an extreme sports challenge that tests the skill and endurance of competitors while celebrating Alaska’s sled dog culture and history. Teams of 12 to 16 dogs, primarily Alaskan Huskies, and their musher experience harsh terrain and weather conditions during the 1,150 mile run from Anchorage to Nome. In its modern iteration as an extreme sport, the Iditarod takes an intense physical toll not only on the human competitors but also on the sled dogs. The race follows a large network of Native trade and travel routes which travelers used when gold was discovered in the isolated town of Iditarod. This discovery led to a “rush” of miners and settlers from across the country, transforming the trail into the region’s main mail and supply route. The area’s harsh winter conditions made sled dog teams the main source of transportation along the Iditarod Trail and it is this rich history which the Iditarod race celebrates today. In 1978 Congress designated the 2300 mile Iditarod Trail as a National Historic Trail recognizing its importance in the shaping of America. Through its beginnings as a regional story, the Iditarod provides us the opportunity to explore the American Experience through the origins of the Iditarod National Historic Trail and the transformation of the Alaskan sled dog culture into an international sport. The Iditarod is now the largest and most prominent sled dog race in the world, attracting international competitors and world-wide media attention.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: name of sport
content: Dog Sled racing
label: web subject
content: Sports
label: level of sport
content: Professional
label: related event
content: Iditarod Sled Dog Race
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2013.0123.02
label: accession number
content: 2013.0123
label: catalog number
content: 2013.0123.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: parka, dog sledding
label: Object Name
content: sled dog racing parka
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, nylon (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 30 in x 24 in; 76.2 cm x 60.96 cm