Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early in the 20th century. The main route of the Iditarod trail extends from Seward in the south to Nome in the northwest, and was first surveyed by Walter Goodwin in 1908, and then cleared and marked by the Alaska Road Commission in 1911 and 1912. The entire network of branching paths covers a total of . Except for the start in Anchorage, the modern race follows parts of the historic trail. The trail is composed of two routes: a northern route, which is run on even-numbered years, and a southern route, which is run on odd-numbered years. Both follow
Sled dog of four stars. Anna was a small sled dog who ran on Pam Flower's team during her expedition to become the first woman to cross the Arctic alone. She was noted for being the smallest dog to run on the team, and a picture book was created about her journey in the Arctic. There are numerous stories of blind sled dogs that continue to run, either on their own or with assistance from other dogs on the team. Sled dogs have been written about extensively by numerous authors. Sled dog Sled dogs were important for transportation in arctic areas, hauling