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About the
Last Great Race on Earth...the Iditarod
You can’t compare
it to any other competitive event in the world! A race
over 1150 miles of the roughest, most beautiful terrain
Mother Nature has to offer. She throws jagged mountain
ranges, frozen river, dense forest, desolate tundra and
miles of windswept coast at the mushers and their dog
teams. Add to that temperatures far below zero, winds
that can cause a complete loss of visibility, the hazards
of overflow, long hours of darkness and treacherous climbs
and side hills, and you have the Iditarod. A race extraordinaire,
a race only possible in Alaska.
From Anchorage, in south
central Alaska, to Nome on the western Bering Sea coast,
each team of 12 to 16 dogs and their musher cover over
1150 miles in 10 to 17 days.
It has been called the “Last
Great Race on Earth” and it has won worldwide acclaim
and interest. German, Spanish, British, Japanese and American
film crews have covered the event. Journalists from outdoor
magazines, adventure magazines, newspapers and wire services
flock to Anchorage and Nome to record the excitement.
It’s not just a dog sled race, it’s a race
in which unique men and woman compete. Mushers enter from
all walks of life. Fishermen, lawyers, doctors, miners,
artists, natives, Canadians, Swiss, French and others;
men and women each with their own story, each with their
own reasons for going the distance. It’s a race
organized and run primarily by volunteers, thousands of
volunteers, men and women, students and village residents.
They man headquarters at Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau,
Nome and Wasilla. They fly volunteers, veterinarians,
dog food and supplies. They act as checkers, coordinators,
and family supporters of each musher.
Read more about the Iditarod by visiting the official Iditarod web site
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