 On the Iditarod trail, at Finger Lake (above); Mushers-in-training, on the outskirts of Nome (right) |
 Billed as “the last great race in the world”, the Iditarod dog-sled race runs well over 1600 km from Anchorage to Nome, through some of the world’s most inhospitable territory.
The Iditarod is no ordinary dog-sled race. This classic event, billed as “the world’s last great race”, commemorates the famous “serum run” of 1925, when a sled dog relay carrying vital supplies of diphtheria vaccine was the only way of saving the citizenry of the remote town of Nome from near-annihilation.
For a couple of weeks in early March each year, Alaskans go crazy. This is the Iditarod season, when racers brave the 1875 km from Anchorage to Nome through territory where the temperature can drop to -50ºC (or even lower, with windchill factor).
Not that a dog-race is needed to drive Alaskans crazy. Who would be crazy enough to live in this hostile environment? Just about everyone who wants a challenge in life, it would seem.
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