Hope Race Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and Yukon Quest in the same year. Hope Race The Hope Race or Hope Sled Dog Race is a defunct international sled dog race between Nome, Alaska and Anadyr, Russia, across the Bering Strait. The race was established in 1991, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, and according to information on the race's (now inactive) Web site, was run as recently as 2004. Racers covered 1,200 miles, but did not actually race across the Bering Strait. Teams instead were shipped across the strait on boats and raced on land. In 1995, Alaska musher
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race of Swenson's lead dog, Swenson's body crossed the finish line first. The first musher to win four races was Rick Swenson, in 1982. In 1991 he became the only person to win five times and the only musher to win the race in three different decades. Susan Butcher, Doug Swingley, Martin Buser, Jeff King, Lance Mackey, and Dallas Seavey are the only other four-time winners. Mary Shields was the first woman to complete the race, in 1974 (Finishing 23rd). In 1985 Libby Riddles was the only musher to brave a blizzard, becoming the first woman to win the race. She