Photo by AlaskanDude under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, in Alaska, where mushers and teams of typically 16 dogs cover 1,161 miles (1,868 km) from Willow (near Anchorage) to Nome. The sled dog race begins on the first Saturday in March. The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams, evolving into the highly competitive race it is today. The current fastest winning time record was set in 2002 by Martin Buser with a time of 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, and 2 seconds.

Teams frequently race through blizzards causing whiteout conditions, sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds which can cause the wind chill to reach −100 °F (−73.3 °C). A ceremonial start occurs in the city of Anchorage and is followed by the official restart in Willow, a city in the south central region of the state. The restart was originally in Wasilla, but because of too little snow, the restart was permanently moved to Willow in 2008. The trail proceeds from Willow 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 landscape 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 Athabaskan and Inupiat 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. The trails alternate each year—every even year they take the north trail and odd years they take the south trail.

For more information, please visit Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race website.

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