A Guide to the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race

One of the most brutal outdoor races anywhere is the Iditarod Trail dog sled race in Alaska. The namesake of this race was taken after the "Iditarod Trail" which was one of the first designated National Historic Trails in 1978.

The Iditarod committee promotes this race as a commemoration to the famous serum delivery of 1925 when diphtheria threatened the town of Nome Alaska. What began in 1973 as a way to test who had the best dog teams and mushers, has now evolved into a very competitive sport. The record time for this race was set in 2002 by Martin Buser at: 8 days, 22 hours, and 46:02.

This race which covers 1,161 miles is the most popular sporting event in Alaska. Top mushers and dog sled teams are the local celebrities in this event. Normally the field of competition averages over fifty mushers, and one thousand dogs in the race.

And the Race Begins

The Iditarod race starts the first Saturday in March, in downtown Anchorage Alaska. A five block area is portioned off for the staging area of the race. Before 1983, the race began at Mulcahy Park. Starting positions are chosen by the mushers two days prior to the event.

The race begins through the only urban development area on the course; this portion of the race is not counted as official time. As the teams leave the city they quickly head into the foothills east of Anchorage.

At the third checkpoint, the race is restarted again on Sunday. Now the teams are starting again in much colder temperatures. In 2008, the official restart was pushed farther north to Willow Lake.

The race continues up the Alaskan Rainy Pass into the much less populated interior. The course endures such landscapes as: frozen tundra, mountain passes and rivers while traveling under the Northern Lights.

Each year this trail changes its course. In the even years the northern trail is taken, while in the odd years the southern trial is used.

As the Iditarod continues it then follows along the shore of the Bering Sea until it reaches Nome in western Alaska. The same route of the race was used until 1977, when it was changed to distribute the events impact on the smaller villages in the area. This also gave the benefit of passing through the town of Iditarod.

Safety Precautions of the Race

There are twenty five checkpoints along the northern route, and twenty six along the southern route where mushers must sign in. Three mandatory rests are scheduled during the race which teams must take.

One of these rest stops is a 24 hour layover which can be taken at any check point. Other mandatory stops are an eight hour break, along with an eight hour layover at White Mountain.

All of the dogs are checked by veterinarians before the start of the race, and are also tracked and identified by microchip implants, and collar tags. At the checkpoints during the race all dogs are checked for: hydration, weight, and also signs of foot and shoulder injuries.

Each year the "Golden Harness" is presented to the lead dog of the winning team. Each team in the race consists of 12 to 16 dogs.

Source of information:

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iditarod_Trail_Sled_Dog_Race