Sled dog the path between these two towns. It was known as the Iditarod Trail because, at the time, Iditarod was the largest town on the trail. During the 1940s, the trail fell into disuse. However, in 1967, Dorothy Page, who was conducting Alaska's centennial celebration, ordered of the trail to be cleared for a dog sled race. In 1972, the US Army performed a survey of the trail, and in 1973 the Iditarod was established by Joe Redington, Sr. The race was won by Dick Wilmarth, who took three weeks to complete the race. The modern Iditarod is a endurance sled
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