Alaskan sled dog race

Alaskan sled dog race
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race is an annual sled dog race team across Alaska. Mushers and a team of 12 to 16 dogs (at least 6 must be in the cable from the goal line) [1] covering more than 1.049 miles in 15.9 days from Anchorage to Nome.

Race starts the first Saturday of March. Iditarod began in 1973, an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams, but developed into today's highly competitive race. The current fastest winning time record was set in 2011 by John Baker at the time of 8 days, 19 hours, 46 minutes and 39 seconds. [2]

Teams often race through blizzards cause whiteout conditions, freezing temperatures and strong winds that can cause the wind chill to reach -100 ° F (-73 ° C). A departure ceremony is happening in the city of Anchorage and is followed by the official restart in Willow, a town in south-central region of the state. Restart was originally in Wasilla, but because of too little snow, the restart in Willow moved permanently in 2008 [3]. The trail goes up to Willow Pass Alaska Range Rainy in sparsely populated, and then along the shore of the Bering Sea, finally reaching Nome in western Alaska. The route is through a rugged landscape of tundra and spruce forests, hills and mountain passes and across rivers. While the start in Anchorage is the center of a major urban center, most of the road passes through towns and villages far away, and small colonies Athabaskan and Inupiat.

The Iditarod is regarded as a symbolic link to the ancient history of the state and is connected to many traditions in honor of the dog mushing capital.

Race is the most popular sporting event in Alaska, and the top mushers and their teams of dogs are local celebrities; popularity is credited with a resurgence of recreational mushing State since 1970. Although the area per year of more than fifty mushers and about a thousand dogs is still largely in Alaska, fourteen competitors in the country is ready for the event, including Switzerland, Martin Buser, who became the first international winner in 1992.

The Iditarod received more attention outside the state after the 1985 victory of Libby Riddles, a long shot becomes the first woman to win the race. Susan Butcher became the second woman to win the race and continued to lead half a decade. Print journalists and television and a multitude of spectators attend the farewell ceremony at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and D Street in Anchorage and in least number of checkpoints along the road.