Seum Run Research Paper

1079 Words3 Pages

In 1925, an epidemic of diphtheria had intruded the small town of Nome, Alaska, and other surrounding villages. During the time there was no way of getting to the small town by ship because the large ice pack intruding the waters and the two planes in Alaska at the time had already been dismantled and had put away for the winter. Alaskan officials had to quickly devise a plan that would save the people affected by the epidemic, many mostly children. They had devised a plan to run sled dog teams from checkpoint to checkpoint handing off the serum to the next musher in line. There were 20 different mushers and around 150 dogs that had took part of this feat. This feat later to be known was the Serum Run of 1925 or the Great Race of Mercy.
The Serum Run had caught the eye of the national media. From the extreme odds against the mushers and the extreme weather, it was history in the making. There were two sled mushing teams of the twenty that had concurred major feats. One sled dog team lead by Leonhard Seppala and his lead dog Togo(siberian husky), the other team lead my musher Gunnar Kaasen and his lead dog Balto(siberian husky) who actually belonged to Leonhard Seppala. Although both of these team would meet great …show more content…

His team first running from Nome to Shaktoolik a 127 mile distance to pick up the serum. Among Seppala was his lead dog Togo. Being a fierce and persevering dog, Togo had it all. At 12 years old for a being a Siberian Husky, Togo was very old but had been in great and physical shape. The 127 mile journey had been a harsh and cruel one, with temperatures averaging at a very low -30 degrees Fahrenheit under the perfect conditions. But, the conditions were never perfect, from 60 mph winds to a constant blizzarding environment making the actual feel around -85 degrees Fahrenheit. One wrong mistake and you could’ve find yourself buried under a drift of

More about Seum Run Research Paper

Open Document