Iditarod: Toughest Race on Earth Iditarod: Toughest Race on Earth Iditarod: Toughest Race on Earth was a 2008 American reality television miniseries on the Discovery Channel that featured the 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. The show follows and documents selected racers and their dogs during the trek through Alaska's wilderness. Iditarod entrants pay $3,000 to enter the race and must have completed certain qualifying races beforehand. Expenses for the race can exceed $20,000 and mushers often seek sponsors to aide in paying for the race. Most mushers hold outside jobs in addition to racing. During the course of the
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race also joined his father and brother, Dick and Rick Mackey as an Iditarod champion. All three Mackeys raced with the bib number 13, and all won their respective titles on their sixth try. The "Golden Harness" is most frequently given to the lead dog or dogs of the winning team. However, it is decided by a vote of the mushers, and in 2008 was given to Babe, the lead dog of Ramey Smyth, the 3rd-place finisher. Babe was almost 11 years old when she finished the race, and it was her ninth Iditarod. The "Rookie of the Year" award is