Iditarod Mushers Begin Sled-Dog Race Through Alaska Wilderness

On Monday marked the beginning of the annual Sled-Dog Race through the wilderness of Alaska and mushers from all over world gathered at Alaska so as to take part in it.

This year’s event saw the mushers start off from Fairbanks, a route which has never been used before in the race, in sub zero temperatures.

The Sled- Dog race, which is nearly 1,000-mile, typically takes more than nine days for it to be completed by the mushers. That said the event in itself commemorates a rescue mission which was carried out back in 1925 that saw sled-dogs delivering diphtheria serum to the Nome, a Bearing Coastal Community.

This year’s event will also mark the first time that mushers will not be using one of the races traditional routes given that it was deemed unsafe by the organizers of the event. Instead the organizers of the event came up with an alternative route which will see the mushers start the race at Fairbanks from the Willow.

According to Dallas Seavey, the events current champion who will be defending his championship in this year’s event, the change in route which was done by the event organizers offer all mushers who will be participating in this year’s event with a level playing field.
"You're not really sure how fast the race is going to be, considering the change," Seavey said. "It's going to require mushers to have a lot of confidence in themselves and their dog teams."

This year’s sled-dog race saw a total of 78 mushers taking part and each of them had a dozen dogs.