Every year around from March 7 to March 17 an Alaskan dog shied race takes place traveling from downtown anchorage finishing in Nome Alaska. The race traces its roots back to 1973 when the first Iditarod was run. The race route is loosely based on 1925 diphtheria serum run to Nome. This was a real run by dog sled teams to Nome to bring medicine to the town of Nome who was affected by deadly diphtheria in 1925.
One of the more interesting facts about the Iditarod is the fact that it has 2 starts, a ceremonial start in anchorage Alaska and a real “Restart” in willow on March 8th which acts as the actual start of the race. During the duration of the race racers must camp in the Alaskan wilderness at checkpoints set up along the track. Additionally the Race also forces 3 mandatory stop periods to ensure the well-being of the dogs participating in the race. One of these stops is a mandatory 24-hour layover a musher must take at a point in the race at the mushers’ discretion; the other 2 stops are forced stops at checkpoints these last 8 hours a piece and are taken along the Yukon River and White Mountain. Another important rule during the Iditarod is the maximum number of dogs allowed mushers to be limited to a maximum of 16 dogs to pull their sleds. A final interesting detail about this race is that its lengths vary by year with the trail changing slightly year over year in the race is generally between 950 miles and 1,050 miles with races in the upper 900s being the norm.
This year’s race followed the even year northern routes with this year’s trail covering approximately 975 miles from anchorage to Nome and had its actual start on the 8th of march in willow at 2:00 pm the race lasted until March 20th at 8pm when the last musher crossed the finish line. The winner of the race this year was jessie Holmes an avid 43-year-old musher from Alabama. Holmes won 80,700$ for his first-place victory. The 2nd and 3rd place mushers were Travis Beals and Jeff Deeter. This year’s race was also unique in the fact that it featured the first expedition Musher who races alongside the mushers but isn’t in the race themselves.
This year’s races also is being set in the backdrop of the declining popularity in race with only half as many teams participating this year as did in 2008. This declining popularity and the lack of external sponsors has probly driven the decision to bring in expedition racers. On the topic of the Iditarod, and its popularity, I asked my dear friend Rhys James Panchura if he had heard about the Iditarod. He stated he had never heard about what the Iditarod was when I asked students Brady Dilworth and Conner Vescovi they also didn’t know what the Iditarod was when explained to them thy said it was cool that they had the race but not something any of them would be interested in following.
