by Barb Taliaferro

Created on: February 08, 2009   Last Updated: March 01, 2009

The course for the grueling Iditarod dog sled race is based on a historic trail that runs across Alaska from Anchorage to Nome. Long before the advent of the race the trail was used to carry supplies from the larger cities to the small villages and gold mining towns that are scattered across the Alaskan wilderness. The sled drivers, or mushers, would drop off the mail, medicines and other necessities then pick up gold and furs to be taken back to the cities for sale. Because of its long and storied history the trail is now a National Historic Site.

The Iditarod race course starts in downtown Anchorage at the corner of 4th and D streets and travels a winding route through the barren ice covered landscape. There are checkpoints in the towns that were originally part of the supply run. They are spaced at fairly regular intervals along the trail and are places where drivers and their dogs can rest and receive medical care if necessary. The first eleven checkpoints are: the Campbell Airstrip, Willow, Yenta, Skwentna, Finger Lake, Rainy Pass, Rohn, Nikolai, Mcgrath, Takotna and Ophir.

At this point the course splits into two different trails, one that takes a northernly path and one that travels to the south. The race travels the northern path on even years and the southern on odd years. Along the northern route the drivers stop at the checkpoints of Cripple, Ruby, Galena, and Nulato. This is the shorter of the two courses with a total of 1112 miles from start to finish.

The southern branch of the Iditarod trail hits the checkpoints of Iditarod, a now deserted gold mining town that is the namesake of the race and the trail, Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling and Eagle Island. This is the longer course adding 19 miles for a total of 1131 from Anchorage to Nome.

The two branches come back together at the village of Katlag and the race continues on along the coastline. The checkpoints for this final leg of the race are Unalakleet, Shaktoolik, Koyuk, Elim, Golovin, White Mountain, and Safety. Finally the race comes to its end when the dogs, sled and driver pass under the Burled Arch in Nome.

The Iditarod is a harrowing journey for both the drivers and their dogs. The length of time it takes to complete the trail depends largely on the weather conditions the mushers encounter along the way. The fastest time ever recorded was 9 days, 2 hours and 42 minutes but it can take as long as 12 days to finish the race. Every year an average of 65 teams start the race but many do not make it to the finish line. Those teams that do make it to the finish line, whether they come in first or last, are given a hero's welcome by the spectators who line the streets of Nome awaiting their arrival.

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