World's most famous sled dog race launches this week

The world’s most famous sled dog race is longer this year than ever before.

Thanks to a lack of snow, this year’s edition of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race needed a new route across the Alaska wilderness. The course change adds more than 100 miles, so teams of dogs will have to pull their mushers over 1,100 miles to the finish line.

The number of mushers participating this year is down from previous years, and tied with 2023 as an all-time low. This year is the fourth time the starting line has moved to Fairbanks due to barren ground near Anchorage or elsewhere on the trail.

The grueling event began with a ceremonial start in Anchorage on Saturday, to be followed by the start of the race in Fairbanks on Monday. The winning team is expected in the Gold Rush town of Nome about 10 days later.

Only 33 mushers will start this year’s race, tied with 2023 for the smallest field ever. The largest field ever was 96 mushers in 2008. The drop in participants raises concerns about the viability of the iconic race, which has suffered from inflation and pressure from animal rights groups as well as the mild winters.

The first Iditarod was held in 1973, making this year’s race the 53rd. Sled dogs were once the main form of transportation in Alaska. Dog teams hauled freight and brought people to other villages. Dog teams were supplanted by snowmobiles in the 1960s, but interest was growing to honor Alaska’s traditions as the 100th anniversary of its purchase by the U.S. from Russia neared in 1967.

Each musher must have at least a dozen dogs to start the race, but throughout the course, they can have up to 16, meaning there could be up to 528 canines on the trail. Mushers pack supplies they will need during the race but can’t carry. The supplies, including about 180,000 pounds of dog food, are delivered to checkpoints ahead of the race.


(AP Photo Amanda Loman)