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Q: What's about the history of the Iditarod Race ?
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A: For six thousand years, sled dogs have served as the principal form of transportation for the native peoples of the north. As white settlers, gold miners, and fur trappers moved into what is today Alaska and the northern territories of Canada, they, too, used the dog team for winter transportation. When gold camps boomed in the interior, the call for mail and supply delivery in the winter months was answered by the hearty dogs and mushers. One of the major routes followed by the teams was the Iditarod Trail, which crossed Alaska from Seward on the Kenai Peninsula to Nome on the Bering Sea Coast.
In the winter of 1925, a diphtheria epidemic struck Nome. The anti-serum required to stop the epidemic needed to be quickly transported to Nome, but no roads to Nome existed, ships could not sail through the pack ice, and air travel was too dangerous. The Iditarod Trail was the only answer, and a group of 18 dog teams and mushers relayed the serum 674 miles from Nenana to Nome. This is the well-known story of Balto.
Clearly sled dogs were a key part of Alaska's early history, but they began to disappear as snowmobiles, airplanes, and roads arrived in Alaska during the middle 20th century. In response to this disappearance, Joe Redington Sr. and a group of mushers worked together to start a race across Alaska that followed the old Iditarod Trail. This race was the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and it has become the world's premiere sled dog race since its first running in 1973.
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Q: Are there two different race trails?
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A: Yes. The middle 300 miles of the trail alternates. The Northern Route, run in even-numbered years, heads north from the checkpoint of Ophir, reaches the Yukon River at Ruby, and travels downriver to Kaltag. The Southern Route, run in odd-numbered years, heads south from Ophir, passes through the ghost town of Iditarod, and reaches the Yukon River just below the checkpoint at Anvik. The trail then heads upriver to Kaltag. From Kaltag the trail is the same every year to the finish, and the trail from the starting line to Ophir is also the same each year.
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Q: How many mushers run in the Iditarod?
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A: 55-75 mushers usually start the race. The most mushers ever to start the Iditarod was in the 2000 race when 82 mushers left the starting line. The most to ever finish was in 2004 when 77 mushers successfully made it to Nome. No limit has been imposed on the number of entries, but talk has been made of limiting the number to 100 teams if needed at some point in the future.
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Q: Who can run in the Iditarod?
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A: Any qualified musher is welcome to enter the Iditarod. A qualified musher is a person who is at least 18 years of age, is in good standing with the Iditarod Trail Committee, and has met one of the two following requirements: successfully finished a previous Iditarod or successfully finished two approved qualifying races totaling 500 miles or more in the 24 months prior to the start of the Iditarod the musher wishes to enter.
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Q: Have women ever won the race?
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A: Yes, women have both competed in and won the Iditarod. In fact, women have raced in every Iditarod since 1974, and currently about a dozen women run the race every year.
Two women have won the race. Libby Riddles was the first woman to win the race when she braved her way through a storm in the 1985 Iditarod. Susan Butcher has won four Iditarods in the years 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990. Because of Libby's and Susan's hold on the winner's circle from 1985 to 1988, the Iditarod Trail Committee trademarked the phrase: "Alaska: Where men are men and women win the Iditarod."
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Q: What's about checkpoints along the trail?
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A: Yes, the race trail has a total of 26 checkpoints between the Wasilla starting line and Nome. The checkpoints vary from people's homes along rivers to old cabins in the woods to villages and ghost towns. A few checkpoints are just remote place where planes could land to drop off officials and food and set up tents.
The checkpoints are sort of the activity centers for the race. All of the veterinarians, officials, and food for mushers and dogs are at the checkpoints. When a team arrives at a checkpoint, a checker signs the team into the checkpoint and records the time, date, and number of dogs in the team. Checkers also point out the location of camp sites for the team, the food drop bags (if a food drop checkpoint), and water (if available). Teams are not required to rest at every checkpoint, however, so sometimes teams just pass through and head out on the trail again. Other times, teams stop for a rest.
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Q: Are rest stops mandatory during the race ?
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A: The Iditarod rules require a total of three rest stops. The first rest stop is a 24-hour stop that must be taken at a checkpoint of the musher's choice along the trail. This rest is typically taken between 300 and 600 miles into the race. The second rest stop is an eight hour stop that must be taken at a checkpoint along the Yukon River. The third and final required rest stop is an eight hour stop at the village of White Mountain, 77 miles from the finish line in Nome.
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Q: Is the Iditarod trail marked ?
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A: The Iditarod Trail Breakers are some of the most hard-core snowmobilers in the world. They make an 1,100-mile "highway" across Alaska every winter. About 10,000 pieces of surveyor's stakes with orange paint and reflective tape are used to mark the trail. Additional ribbons and tripod markers are used in places like the Alaska Mountain Range and the Bering Sea Coast. The rules require mushers to stay on the marked race trail.
Despite such a heroic marking effort, winds, passing dogs and snowmobiles, and even wild animals can knock down markers. Mushers still must know how to find their and search the snow for signs of other dog teams.
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Q: What about the winning purse ?
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A: The Iditarod Champion receives over 68,000 dollars in cash plus a brand new Dodge Ram 4x4 pickup (Alaska Dogde Dealers is a major race sponsor). A total of 600,000 dollars is distributed to the top 30 finishers in the race each year, and every musher who finishes the race is awarded $1,049. A few other smaller prizes are awarded along the trail to the first mushers into the checkpoints of McGrath and Unalakleet, as well as the first musher to the half-way point and the Yukon River. Other race awards include the Sportsmanship Award, the Humanitarian Award (for the musher who demonstrated the best dog care), the Rookie of the Year Award, the Most Inspirational Musher Award, and the Red Lantern Award (for the last place musher).
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Q: What kind of dogs are used ?
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A: The most commonly used dog in the Iditarod (and in all of mushing) is the Alaskan Husky. The Alaskan Husky is actually a mixed breed, or mutt, dog that is born and bred to love to pull. Alaskan Huskies are a descendent of the original northern sled dogs (mostly domesticated wolves and wild dogs) used by the native peoples of the North Country.
Beginning 150 years ago, white settlers, gold miners, and fur trappers moved into thee northland and brought their own dogs with them. These dogs were a hodge-podge mix of larger breed dogs from the Lower 48 and other parts of the world that were not raised and bred for pulling. As a result, these dogs didn't do very well, but as these dogs interbred with the native sled dogs, the resulting dogs were excellent sled dogs, and the original "mutt" Alaskan Husky was born. The mixing of the breeds provided a great deal of genetic diversity and hybrid vigor that is still found in these dogs today. Over the last 100 years, mushers have mixed in other breeds in order to obtain dogs best suited to various uses. Some of these breeds include hounds, pointers, collies, and even some German Shepard.
Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes are purebred derivatives of the original sled dogs, and can be considered cousins to the Alaskan Husky. Some mushers use these breeds, but these breeds lack the stamina, endurance, and attitude of the Alaskans.
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| Q: How long takes it to complete the race ? |
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The record currently stands just over 8 days 22 hours. The record was set in 2002 by Martin Buser or Big Lake, Alaska. The record longest time to finish the Iditarod is 32 days! Currently, the top 20 teams usually finish in under 11 days, and the last place team finishes in 14 or 15 days. The "middle of the pack" is somewhere in between.
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