The Incredible Iditarod

What is the Iditarod? You’ve probably heard of it and know that it is sled dog race, but the meaning behind it, and the details are quite interesting. This race takes place in Alaska and covers one thousand miles in fifteen days. This years’ Iditarod starts on March 3 and the awards ceremony is on March 18.

The trail that the Iditarod follows has its roots as a mail and supply route, and in the 1950s part of it became a highway for villages that had severe epidemics. The race starts in Anchorage, and reaches Nome, on the western Bering Sea coast. The racers (musher), ride for eleven miles through the town, then they stage a restart in the Matanuska Valley.

The path alternates each year, one time they will go north through the towns of Cripple, Ruby, and Galena, and the other years they will go south through Iditarod, Shageluk, and Anvik. The 1000 miles that are covered are mountain ranges, forests, and tundras, and the temperatures are well below freezing every day. The racers also have to deal with the hazards of vision loss due to blizzards, wind gusts that can blow them around, and potential injuries to their dogs.

Joe Redington Sr. is called the “Father of the Iditarod” as he started the tradition of this great race. When Redington founded the Iditarod, he had two main objectives as his motivation; the first being to preserve the sled dog culture and the use of Alaskan huskies, which were being “replaced” with the invention of snowmobiles. Redington’s second goal was to preserve the historical Iditarod trail, and in doing so, protect and celebrate Alaska’s history and culture.

The racers train hard for a year, getting themselves and the dogs ready with thousands of miles total in training. They also need to raise money to get to the starting place, as well as purchase equipment and food.

The racers have a team of sixteen sled dogs that they have trained and picked specifically for racing the iditarod. The chosen dogs must fill many requirements before they are allowed to take part in the iditarod, including identification (microchipping is done by the Iditarod Trail Committee), vaccinations, physical exams, as well as forms stating who the veterinarians are for each dog or team.  

While on the trail, the racers ride behind or walk beside their team for many hours on end each day. Each musher has his own strategy to cover the distance the fastest, some ride during the day, some during the night. And each have individual training schedules, and have their own ideas concerning food on the trail, dog stamina as well as their own ability.

There are specific rules that outline items that each musher is required to have on the trail, including an arctic parka, a heavy sleeping bag, an ax, snowshoes, musher food, dog food and boots for each dog’s feet to protect against cutting ice and hard packed snow injuries. The mushers must choose between being very prepared with many supplies and food, or taking a couple chances and having a lighter load allowing for faster running.

From the racer finishing in first place to the musher that wins the red lantern (last place), they have accomplished an incredible feat that most of us would not dare to try. They have trained so hard, and invested much of their time into the iditarod race, and they deserve to be given a lot of credit and acknowledgement. This race is intense and exciting, and not to mention, the sled dogs are really cute.