Alaska’s famed Iditarod race begins
Print Edition
Dozens of mushers and their sled-dog teams on Saturday joined in the ceremonial start to Alaska’s famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race that will take contestants through nearly 1,600 kilometers of wilderness this week.
Fans lined the streets of downtown Anchorage with cameras, banners and signs and outstretched hands hoping for a passing high five from the competitors.
The 18-km jaunt through the state’s largest city set the stage for yesterday’s start of a race that marks a 1925 rescue mission that carried diphtheria serum to Nome by sled-dog relay. A total of 69 mushers, some from as far away as Jamaica and New Zealand, were expected to take part.
“Saturday is an opportunity to interact with mushers, watch dog teams excited to leave the starting line, travel 11 miles of the city streets and call it a day,” said race Executive Director Stan Hooley. “There is much more of an opportunity to touch and feel the race, and celebrate this great race.”
Timed racing was set to start yesterday when the mushers reached Willow, a small community about 80km north of Anchorage. The competition will eventually see them glide into Nome, a city on the coast of the Bering Sea.
They will hit 21 checkpoints with distances between stops ranging from 29 to 137km before reaching the finish line in Nome.
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