2005 Iditarod 2005 Iditarod The ceremonial start of the 33rd annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the US state of Alaska began in Anchorage on March 5, 2005 at 10 am AKST (19:00 UTC), and restarted in Willow the next day at 2 pm (23:00 UTC). After covering of wilderness, musher Robert Sørlie, an airport firefighter from Norway, crossed the finish line under the "burled arch" in Nome on March 16 at 8:39 am AKST (17:39 UTC). After taking care of his dogs, and an inspection to make sure all the mandatory equipment was in his sled, Sørlie was declared the
Sled dog racing the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, but it did not gain official event status. Sled dogs, known also as sleighman dogs, sledge dogs, or sleddogs, are a highly trained dog type that are used to pull a dog sled, a wheel-less vehicle on runners, over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines. Sled dog races include "sprint" races over relatively short distances of 4 to 100 miles, mid-distance races from 100 to 300 miles, or long-distance races of 300 to over 1,000 miles (Iditarod). Sprint races frequently are two or three-day events with heats run on successive days