Welcome to Iditarod Alaska
Start Date: First Saturday in March
Course : From Willow (near Anchorage) to Nome - 1161 miles

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual sled dog team race across Alaska, U.S. Mushers and teams of typically 16 dogs cover 1,161 miles (1,868 km) in nine to fifteen days from Willow (near Anchorage) to Nome.

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In the winter of 1925, a diphtheria epidemic raged among Inuit in the Nome area. Fierce territory-wide blizzard conditions prevented delivery of a life-saving serum by airplane from Anchorage. A relay of dog sled teams was organized to deliver the serum. The annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race commemorates this historic event.

The 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 but evolved into today's highly competitive race. The current fastest winning time record was set in 2002 by Martin Buser with a time of 8 days, 22 hours, 47 minutes, and 2 seconds.

The race is the most popular sporting event in Alaska, and the top mushers and their teams of dogs are local celebrities; this popularity is credited with the resurgence of recreational mushing in the state since the 1970s. While the yearly field of more than fifty mushers and about a thousand dogs is still largely Alaskan, competitors from fourteen countries have completed the event.

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. 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 trail runs 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 trail is through a harsh landscape of tundra and spruce forests, over hills and mountain passes, and across rivers. The official finish line is the Red "Fox" Olson Trail Monument, more commonly known as the "burled arch", in Nome.

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