Alaska Competitive Sled Dog Racing since 1973 during 2015

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 Gps Coordinates  /  61.2185475,-149.8901816

Alaska Sled Racing IDITAROD Sled Dog Race Vr Gps Sports

498-400 W 4th Ave, Anchorage, AK 99501, USA

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.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.8911003  /  Gps Link -149.8908798  /  Gps Link -149.8907243

Gps Coordinates  /  61.2185483,-149.8911003  /  61.2185452,-149.8908798  /  61.2185428,-149.8907243

Teams generally race through blizzards causing whiteout conditions, sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds which can cause the wind chill to reach −100 °F (−73 °C).

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.8906048  /  Gps Link -149.8903742  /  Gps Link -149.891641

Gps Coordinates  /  61.2185436,-149.8906048  /  61.2185415,-149.8903742  /  61.218539,-149.891641

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of 14 dogs, of which at least 5 must be on the towline at the finish line, cover the distance in 8–15 days or more.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.8914813  /  Gps Link -149.89133 

Gps Coordinates  /  61.2185459,-149.8914813  /  61.218549,-149.89133

A ceremonial start occurs in the city of Anchorage and is followed by the official restart in Willow, a city 80 miles (129 km) north of Anchorage.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.8900071  /  Gps Link -149.8895302  /  Gps Link -149.8884688

Gps Coordinates  /  61.2185453,-149.8900071  /  61.218545,-149.8895302  /  61.2185468,-149.8884688

The restart was originally in Wasilla through 2007, but due to too little snow, the restart has been at Willow since 2008.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.8883105  /  Gps Link -149.888156  /  Gps Link -149.8879891

Gps Coordinates  /  61.218548,-149.8883105  /  61.2185455,-149.888156  /  61.2185472,-149.8879891

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.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.88744  /  Gps Link -149.8866728  /  Gps Link -149.8864839

Gps Coordinates  /  61.2185519,-149.88744  /  61.2185466,-149.8866728  /  61.2185401,-149.8864839

The trail is through a rugged landscape of tundra and spruce forests, over hills and mountain passes, and across rivers.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.886295  /  Gps Link -149.8861154  /  Gps Link -149.8855802

Gps Coordinates  /  61.2185391,-149.886295  /  61.2185389,-149.8861154  /  61.218539,-149.8855802

The race is an important and 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. 

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.8854084  /  Gps Link -149.8852364  /  Gps Link -149.8849017

Gps Coordinates  /  61.2185402,-149.8854084  /  61.2185412,-149.8852364  /  61.2185399,-149.8849017

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 including Martin Buser from Switzerland, who became the first foreign winner in 1992.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.8836005  /  Gps Link -149.8834276  /  Gps Link -149.8832554

Gps Coordinates  /  61.218537,-149.8836005  /  61.2185389,-149.8834276  /  61.2185453,-149.8832554

The Iditarod received more attention outside of the state after the 1985 victory of Libby Riddles, a long-shot who became the first woman to win the race. The next year, Susan Butcher became the second woman to win the race and went on to win three more years.

Link Location Gps -149.7948069

Gps Coordinates  /  61.1745727,-149.7948069

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.7946975  /  Gps Link -149.7946975  

Gps Coordinates  /  61.1745461,-149.7946975  /  61.1745461,-149.7946975

Print and television journalists and crowds of spectators attend the ceremonial start at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and D Street in Anchorage and in smaller numbers at the checkpoints along the trail.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.7946808  /  Gps Link -149.7945972  /  Gps Link -149.7843663

Gps Coordinates  /  61.1745445,-149.7946808  /  61.1744794,-149.7945972  /  61.1743819,-149.7946079  /  61.1683081,-149.7843663

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.779213  /  Gps Link -149.7731712  /  Gps Link -149.7732249

Gps Coordinates  /  61.1662778,-149.779213  /  61.1647663,-149.7731712  /  61.1644617,-149.7732249

Mitch Seavey set the record fastest time for the Iditarod in 2017, crossing the line in Nome in 8 days, 3 hours, 40 minutes and 13 seconds, while also becoming the oldest winner.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.7721205  /  Gps Link -149.7720799  /  Gps Link -149.7740984

Gps Coordinates  /  61.1638575,-149.7721205  /  61.1633197,-149.7720799  /  61.1623142,-149.7740984

The race's namesake is the Iditarod Trail, which was designated as one of the first four US National Historic Trails in 1978. The trail, in turn, is named for the town of Iditarod, which was an Athabaskan village before becoming the center of the Inland Empire's Iditarod Mining District in 1910, and then becoming a ghost town at the end of the local gold rush.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.7794021  /  Gps Link -149.781225  /  Gps Link -149.7873412

Gps Coordinates  /  61.1596986,-149.7794021  /  61.1588079,-149.781225  /  61.1559312,-149.7873412

There are currently 26 checkpoints on the northern route and 27 on the southern route where mushers must sign in. Some mushers prefer to camp on the trail and immediately press on, but others stay and rest. Mushers prepare "drop bags" of supplies which are flown ahead to each checkpoint by the Iditarod Air Force.

 Link Location Gps  /  Gps Link -149.7886783

Gps Coordinates  /  61.1550246,-149.7886783

While the start in Anchorage is in the middle of a large urban center, most of the route passes through widely separated towns and villages, and small Athabaskan and Iñupiat settlements.

The Iditarod is regarded as a symbolic link to the early history of the state and is connected to many traditions commemorating the legacy of dog mushing.

Link Location Gps -149.7882658

Gps Coordinates  /  61.1552981,-149.7882658

The race starts on the first Saturday in March, at the first checkpoint on Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage. A five-block section of the street is barricaded off as a staging area, and snow is stockpiled and shipped in by truck the night before to cover the route to the first checkpoint. Prior to 1983, the race started at Mulcahy Park.