10 Interesting Facts about the Iditarod Race

In this article, we will tell you information facts about Iditarod Race. This race is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March from Anchorage to Nome. It began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams but evolved into today’s highly competitive race. To know more facts about the Iditarod Race, you can check the following list.

Facts about the Iditarod Race 1: Name

The name of the race “Iditarod” may be derived from the Athabaskan haiditarod, meaning “far distant place”. It also refers to the town Iditarod; it 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.

Facts about the Iditarod Race 2: Route

There are two routes of the Iditarod Race: a northern route and a southern route. The northern route runs on even-numbered years while the southern route runs on odd-numbered years. Both of routes follow the same trail for 444 miles (715 km), from Anchorage to Ophir, where they diverge and then rejoin at Kaltag, 441 miles (710 km) from Nome.

Facts about the Iditarod Race 3: The Northern Route

The northern route first passes through Cripple. From Cripple, the route passes through Sulatna Crossing to Ruby, on the Yukon River. Find more facts about the Hand here

Facts about the Iditarod Race 4: The Southern Route

The southern route first passes through the ghost town of Iditarod. From Iditarod the route goes through the Athabaskan villages of Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling, and Eagle Island.

Facts about the Iditarod Race 5: Checkpoints

Currently, there are 27 checkpoints on the southern route and 26 checkpoints on the northern route where mushers must sign in.

Facts about the Iditarod Race 6: Most Popular Sports in Alaska

The Iditarod Race is the most popular sporting event in Alaska. 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.

Facts about the Iditarod Race 7: Red Fox

Red Fox or generally called as the “burled arch” in Nome is the official finish line. While the old arch spelled out “End of Iditarod Dog Race”, the new arch has an additional word: “End of Iditarod Sled Dog Race”.

Facts about the Iditarod Race 8: Balto

Balto was a jet black Siberian husky sled dog who led his team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome, in which diphtheria antitoxin was transported from Anchorage, Alaska, to Nenana, Alaska, by train and then to Nome by dog sled to combat an outbreak of the disease.

Facts about the Iditarod Race 9: Records

The current fastest winning time record was set in 2014 by Dallas Seavey with a time of 8 days, 13 hours, 4 minutes, and 19 seconds. He was also the youngest musher to win the race at the age of 25, while as of 2013, at the age of 53, Mitch Seavey was the oldest person to ever win the race. Find more facts about the Hajj

Facts about the Iditarod Race 10: The Woman who Won the Race

In 1985 Libby Riddles was the only musher to brave a blizzard, becoming the first woman to win the race. She was featured in Vogue, and named the Professional Sportswoman of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation. The second woman musher to win the race is Susan Buthcher. She won four races and the only musher to finish in either first or second place for five straight years.

Perhaps those interesting will inform you more facts about the Iditarod Race.