Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of 16 dogs, of which at least 5 must be on the towline at the finish line, cover the distance in 8–15 days or more. The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams but evolved into today's highly competitive race. Then a record, the second fastest winning time was recorded in 2016 by Dallas
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Avenue and D Street in Anchorage and in smaller numbers at the checkpoints along the trail. The race's namesake is the Iditarod Trail, which was designated as one of the first four US National Historic Trails in 1978. The trail in turn is named for the town of Iditarod, which was an Athabaskan village before becoming the center of the Inland Empire's Iditarod Mining District in 1910, and then becoming a ghost town at the end of the local gold rush. The name "Iditarod" may be derived from the Athabaskan "haiditarod", meaning "far distant place". Portions of the Iditarod Trail