Sled dog lighter sled dogs." Outside of Alaska, dog-drawn carts were used to haul peddler's wares in cities like New York. In 1925, there was a diphtheria outbreak in Nome, Alaska. There was not enough serum in Nome to treat the number of people infected by the disease. There was serum in Nenana, but the town was away, and inaccessible except by dog sled. A dog sled relay was set up by the villages between Nenana and Nome, and 20 teams worked together to relay the serum to Nome. The serum reached Nome in six days. The Iditarod Trail was established on
2005 Iditarod the team of 12 dogs, each dog sled also carried a family member or friend, and an "Idita-Rider". The Idita-Riders seats were auctioned off in January, and raised a total of US$140,021, with an average bid of US$1,918.09. The auction was held entirely online for the first time in 2005. The teams passed through of city streets lined with an estimated 100,000 people. The temperature was . Due to the warm weather and poor trail conditions, the first leg of the race was shortened by the Iditarod Trail Committee on February 27, and ended at Campbell Airstrip from Anchorage, instead