Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

You can't compare it to any other competitive event in the world! A race over 1150 miles of the roughest, most beautiful terrain Mother Nature has to offer. She throws jagged mountain ranges, frozen river, dense forest, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coast at the mushers and their dog teams. Add to that temperatures far below zero, winds that can cause a complete loss of visibility, the hazards of overflow, long hours of darkness and treacherous climbs and side hills, and you have the Iditarod.

Originally, the Iditarod trail served as a supply route for materials from the coastal towns of Seward and Knik to the gold fields and camps in Northwest Alaska in the early 1900's. Mushers hauled mail and supplies to towns such as Iditarod and Nome and brought out just-mined gold. In 1925, it gained international fame when a team of mushers and dogs raced against time and the elements to relay diphtheria serum to Nome. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race originated in 1973 to commemorate this life-saving trek.

Frequently teams race through blizzards causing whiteout conditions, and sub-zero weather and gale-force winds which can cause the wind chill to reach -100 °F (-75 °C). The trail runs through Alaska, from the city of Anchorage in the southcental region of the state, up the Rainy Pass of the Alaska Range into the sparsely populated Interior, and then along the shore of the Bering Sea, finally reaching Nome in western Alaska. The teams cross a harsh but starkly beautiful landscape under the canopy of the Northern Lights, through tundra and spruce forests, over hills and mountain passes, and across rivers. While the start in Anchorage is in the middle of a large urban center, most of the route passes through widely separated towns and villages, and small Athapaskan and Inuit settlements. The Iditarod is regarded as a symbolic link to the early history of the state, and is connected to many traditions commemorating the legacy of dog mushing.

Today, the race has grown into an international contest with an average of 60 mushers from Alaska, Canada, the lower 48, Europe and Japan and South America. The youngest musher ever to race was 18 years old, the oldest was 86 years old. Sled dog racing is the only professional sport where men and women compete equally; there are no men's and women's divisions. In 1985 Libby Riddles was the first woman to win the Iditarod. Susan Butcher won the next 3 consecutive years and again in 1990. A popular saying during the 1980's was "Alaska, where men are men, and women win the Iditarod". The ceremonial race start begins on the first Saturday in March in downtown Anchorage. The main street is blocked off and transformed into a sled dog track. Hundreds of cheering spectators line the street the morning of the race to watch the preparation and start of the Iditarod. The official start of the race is the next day in Wasilla or Willow, depending upon the weather conditions.

Nome:
Nome gained fame more than 100 years ago for the fabulous wealth found in its mountains and its beaches of gold. In 1925, Nome gained a different kind of worldwide fame. A diphtheria epidemic struck the town, and bad weather prevented the delivery of serum by air from Anchorage. The serum was forwarded by train north to Nenana and then by dogsled relay to Nome. The delivery brought everlasting fame to Balto, the lead dog of the final team. This race against time was the inspiration for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race and several movies. Nome is now the finish line for the Iditarod.