Iditarod 37
The Iditarod Trail Committee on Monday announced a funding shortfall of nearly $1 million that's accumulated over the last 12 months, forcing the race to once again slice the purse paid to top mushers.
UAF suspends cash-strapped Susan Butcher Institute
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has halted work at the Susan Butcher Institute. The university says the leadership program didn't have the funding to continue.
Iditarod begins Saturday for rookies
Two are flying in from Scotland. Another is coming from New Jersey. The Jamaican is already here.
Jamaican to train for Iditarod with Mackey
Jamaican dog musher Newton Marshall, who has already completed the Yukon Quest, came back to Alaska on Sunday to begin a kind of three-month Iditarod boot camp with reigning champ Lance Mackey.
Mushers worldwide train for Iditarod
Dog drivers from Jamaica, Scotland, Italy, Canada and the United States, especially Alaska, will compete in the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a northern route that will take mushers and nearly 1,000 sled dogs over 1,100 miles of Alaska wilderness.
Riding on the parka tails of three-time Iditarod champ Lance Mackey, the Iditarod Trail Committee has won a third-straight regional Emmy for a documentary about the 1,000-mile race from Anchorage to Nome.
Feelings run high among Iditarod back-of-packers
Two months after a blizzard killed two dogs along the Iditarod Trail and threatened the lives of animals and mushers in several teams, the wounds suffered by the people who invest their emotional lives in dogs continue to bleed.
Heads or tails, Lance Mackey wins with commemorative coin
Lance Mackey says he can't make heads nor tails out of all the attention he's receiving after winning his third straight Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Iditarod code dictates musher's actions on the trail
As an evil cold settled over the Innoko River country and the winds roared across its wild desolation, Blake Matray knew his Iditarod dream was dying, and he let it go.
Last musher hits Nome; sixth dog death reported
The Iditarod reached the end of the trail early Tuesday morning with a Red Lantern winner from Michigan and the most dead dogs in more than a decade.
Sixth Iditarod dog dies during flight to Nome
A sixth dog in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race has died. Race officials say the dog on Alan Peck's team died during a flight from Shaktoolik to Nome.
Except for the half-dozen mushers still trudging toward Nome, the racing was over and tales of the trail held sway Sunday night at the Iditarod Finishers Banquet in Nome.
PETA calls for investigation into dog deaths
PETA asks for investigation into Iditarod dog deaths
An animal rights group wants Alaska State Troopers to open a criminal investigation into the deaths this year of five Iditarod dogs, including two on the team of a musher who says they froze to death.
Two more reach Nome in Iditarod
Jen Seavey and Tom Thurston reached the end of the trail Sunday, arriving in Nome to complete their 1,100-mile Iditarod journeys.
2 dead Iditarod dogs had fluid in their lungs
Omen and Maynard, the two dogs that died late this week in the Iditarod, had fluid in their lungs, race marshal Mark Nordman reported Saturday.
Iditarod purse slashed whopping 35 percent
Pity Sonny Lindner, who finished 11th in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Twelve months ago, 11th place earned Zack Steer of Sheep Mountain $36,600. This year, the same effort will net the finisher $21,900 -- or $14,700 less.
Number of dog deaths on Iditarod Trail is troubling
An 8-year-old dog in the team of Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher Rick Larson died on Friday, bringing to five the number of dogs dead so far in this year's race.
Fairbanks musher is Iditarod rookie of year
Rookie of the year Chad Lindner of Fairbanks earned $1,800 for his 30th-place finish in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a 12-day effort that paid him about $6 an hour.
Two more Iditarod dogs dead near Nome
Two more dogs have perished in this year's Iditarod, bringing the total to five with more than 20 mushers still on the 1,000-mile trail from Willow to Nome.
Chad Lindner of Fairbanks finished 30th Friday in 12 days, 4 hours, 22 minutes to earn rookie of the year honors.
Mackey's famed lead dog retires
With more than 12,000 miles of racing and countless miles of training under his paws, life is finally about to slow down for Larry the lead dog.
His face scarred from frostbite, Skagway's Hugh Neff on Thursday crossed the Nome finish line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Thursday to claim the 15th position.
DAY 12: MARCH 18, 2009
At the end, the storms that had raked the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race for days finally died and the sun shone brightly on Lance Mackey as 15 dogs pulled him down Front Street on Wednesday to a historic victory.
Schnuelle wins the race for second
Schnuelle wins the race for second
While Lance Mackey was in Nome on Wednesday afternoon enjoying a third-straight victory in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the teams of Sebastian Schnuelle and John Baker were on the trail engaged in a dog fight for second that began back in the village of Koyuk.
Mackey leaves final checkpoint
Lance Mackey is 22 miles from his third consecutive victory in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Mackey pulled into the final checkpoint of Safety at 8:40 this morning and left eight minutes later. He traveled 8.5 mph between White Mountain and Safety. If he continues at that pace, he should reach the finish line in Nome just before noon.
Mackey hours away from Nome, Iditarod history
Lance Mackey is 22 miles from his third consecutive victory in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Mackey pulled into the final checkpoint of Safety at 8:40 this morning and left eight minutes later. He traveled 8.5 mph between White Mountain and Safety. If he continues at that pace, he should reach the finish line in Nome just before noon.
DAY 11: MARCH 17, 2009
Iditarod winner expected Wednesday afternoon
With the nearest dog teams 45 miles behind and facing a vicious headwind, Lance Mackey pulled into the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race's penultimate checkpoint Tuesday night nearly assured of his third straight win in the 1,000-mile marathon that started in Anchorage 11 days ago.
Live standings: Musher leaderboard
Voices from the Trail: Packer on the life-threatening weather
With the temperature near 45 degrees below and two dogs already dead from the cold, 55-year-old Lou Packer huddled all alone beside a meager fire in one of the most remote areas left in North America and wondered if he would be next.
Voices from the Trail: Packer on the life-threatening weather
Cause of Packer dogs' deaths remains unknown
A pathologist working for the Iditarod Trail Committee could not visually determine why two 5-year-old male dogs in Wasilla rookie musher Lou Packer's team died, the committee said today in a press release.
Iditarod racers face another day of brutal wind
Wait out the wind. That's what dozens of mushers along the Iditarod Trail were doing today as fierce headwinds combined with subzero temperatures to make pushing forward fruitless at best and dangerous at worst for some of the best mushers in the world.
Voices from the Trail: Packer on the life-threatening weather
Cause of Packer dogs' deaths remains unknown
Bitter winds delay winner's welcome in Nome
Bitter winds delay winner's welcome in Nome
Brutal winds that have slowed the 37th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to a crawl and forced some mushers to quit have pushed back the estimated finish time. Don't expect the winner on Front Street in Nome before noon Wednesday. Two-time defending champion Lance Mackey pulled out of Elim, about 120 miles from the finish line, at 10:57 a.m. this morning.
DAY 10: MARCH 16, 2009
Mackey takes charge of Iditarod
High winds and bitter cold were brutalizing the leaders of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Monday night as Lance Mackey continued an assault on his third straight victory.
2 dogs die; musher airlifted from trail
Video: Mackey leaves Unalakleet in the lead
Schnuelle finds a lonely cabin for a rare snooze
2 dogs die; musher airlifted from trail
Two dogs were reported dead Monday evening after a musher in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race was rescued with the rest of his team along a desolate stretch of trail through the Innoko River country in the Alaska Interior.
Schnuelle finds a lonely cabin for a rare snooze
Musher Sebastian Schnuelle hadn't slept in a long time. His bloodshot eyes drooped. His frizzy mop of hair needed a comb. A dirty foam sleeping pad inside this Bureau of Land Management log cabin called to him.
Top mushers give up on beating Mackey
The powerhouse dog team of Lance Mackey today continued its assault on a third straight victory in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Noon found Mackey's dogs resting in the quiet Bering Sea village of Koyuk, partaking of the magic formula for success on the way to the finish line in Nome.
Video: Mackey leaves Unalakleet in the lead
If all goes well, Mackey could finish early Wednesday
Live standings: Musher leaderboard
If all goes well, Mackey could finish early Wednesday
When should Lance Mackey reach Nome, barring a disaster? Expect a late Tuesday night or, more likely, an early Wednesday morning finish to the 37th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
DAY NINE: MARCH 15, 2009
Mackey reaches coast; Baker loses dogs again
With his pursuers still back in the subzero cold brutalizing the Yukon River basin, Lance Mackey and his 15 dogs came over the Kaltag Portage Sunday to be greeted by the zero-degree warmth of the midafternoon sun and the always welcoming residents of the village where the Iditarod Trail meets the Bering Sea coast.
Voices from the Trail: Mackey "stoked" in Unalakleet
Live standings: Musher leaderboard
Jen Seavey grew up a cowgirl, riding the prairie around her family's Lower 48 ranches and dedicating her life to quarter horses. Now she's a musher, driving a sled 1,000-miles on the Iditarod Trail and devoting her life to sled dogs.
Mackey widens lead as he reaches coast
In a display of dominance not seen since the dynasties of Doug Swingley and the late Susan Butcher ruled the Iditarod Trail, the dog team of Lance Mackey powered down off the frozen Kaltag Portage into a warm welcome in this coastal Bering Sea village Sunday afternoon.
Musher carries mementos of useful life cut short
As Yup'ik musher Mike Williams races for Nome on the Iditarod trail, he's carrying a special delivery sealed away in a Ziploc bag in the front of his sled.
Checkpoint of Iditarod offers glimpse into past
As sled dogs rested and mushers scrambled to make camp Friday afternoon out front of this decaying ghost town along the frozen Iditarod River, David and Joan Cooper stepped off a bush plane to enter a world they will likely never encounter again.
DAY EIGHT: MARCH 14, 2009
The 15-dog team of Lance Mackey was following a snaky trail up the Yukon River into the dark, the cold and the wind on Saturday night as a chase pack of mushers formed up behind to try to run down the leader in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Live standings: Musher leaderboard
Iditarod musher Ed Iten lists Kotzebue as his hometown, but only because it's the biggest population center near his remote ranch in Northwest Alaska.
Mackey reaches Eagle Island firmly in charge
On the river and back on course, two-time defending champion Lance Mackey pulled into the remote outpost of Eagle Island this morning, still firmly in charge of the 37th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
DAY SEVEN: MARCH 13, 2009
Mackey first to Yukon, despite a wrong turn
Curled up in a pile of straw and soaking up the late afternoon sun on Friday alongside a dog named Battel, Lance Mackey, defending champ in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, offered an apology to the 16 canine buddies who've pulled him to the front of the race again this year.
Mackey builds up speed - and a big lead
Playing a high stakes game of catch-me-if-you-can, two-time defending champion Lance Mackey left the Iditarod checkpoint late Thursday after carving himself the first significant lead of the 37th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Voices from the trail: Audio and video
Video: Iditarod checkpoint: Takotna
The Village blog: About the stethoscope in Mike Williams' sled
Mackey flies into the halfway point of Iditarod in first place
DAY SIX: MARCH 12, 2009
Mackey flies into the halfway point of Iditarod in first place
Out in the snowy desolation of the Innoko River country, two-time defending Iditarod champion Lance Mackey made his move Thursday to grab control of The Last Great Race.
Video: Iditarod checkpoint: Takotna
Schnuelle looking for back-to-back Quest and Iditarod wins
Wet snowflakes fell from a dark sky early Thursday morning as Sebastian Schnuelle headed out of this quaint village on the edge of the Kuskokwim Mountains behind a dog team deep into its second 1,000-mile race in a month.
Lead pack out of Ophir on tough trail
An armada of about a dozen mushers was on the move across one of the most desolate stretches of the frozen Alaska Interior this afternoon as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race neared the halfway mark at the ghost town of Iditarod. Aaron Burmeister from Nenana led the way.
Seriously hurt musher waits days to quit race
Voices from the trail: Audio and video
Seriously hurt musher waits days to quit race
Top contender Bjornar Andersen of Norway crashed his sled in the rugged Buffalo Tunnels on Monday night and scratched from the Iditarod today, worried that his injuries might be serious. "I had blood in my urine and I was puking all the time," he said upon arrival in Anchorage.
DAY FIVE: MARCH 11, 2009
Snowed over trail stops mushers at Takotna
Four-time champ Martin Buser was in the old gold camp of Ophir at the front of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday night, but he was not in the lead.
Iditarod rookie's first 'Steps' a doozy
Reader-submitted: Iditarod photos
Iditarod rookie's first 'Steps' a doozy
Life looked so good to 58-year-old Nancy Yoshida when she led her dog team away from Finger Lake a couple days and about 200 miles into the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Little did Yoshida know how quickly things can change along the Iditarod Trail.
Leaders take 24-hour rest, worry about snow
All was quiet along the Iditarod Trail today as most of the top teams settled in for a day's rest in Interior communities along or near the Kuskokwim River. Some mushers had been expected to try to push at least to the ghost town of Iditarod, but deep snow put the kibosh on those plans.
Cause of dog's death remains unknown after necropsy
A necropsy -- the canine version of an autopsy -- done on a dog that died Tuesday in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race found no obvious cause of death, according to Iditarod race marshall Mark Nordman.
DAY FOUR, MARCH 10, 2009
Toilsome trekking on the Iditarod Trail
Down in the Happy River Gorge about 20 miles south of Puntilla Lake, attempts to rescue a rookie musher who crashed her sled in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race turned into hellish mess Tuesday.
Dog in Holt team dies; cause unknown
A sled dog in the team of North Pole musher Jeff Holt died between the checkpoints of Rainy Pass and Rohn in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, according to race officials.
'Huge Mess' is not messing around in Iditarod
Up north, Skagway's Hugh Neff accepted the nickname Huge Mess for the way he has always let his dog teams take off blazing fast in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race only to see them fade in the middle and slog to the finish line.
Leaders rest in Nikolai as temperature rises
The curse of the tropics was upon the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race as the leaders rolled into the village of Nikolai shortly before noon today. Temperatures on the Farewell Burn approached 40 degrees, not so good for the dogs.
DAY THREE: MARCH 9, 2009
So far, Iditarod setbacks are minor
A trickle of blood dripped down Jeff King's face Monday afternoon as the four-time champion of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race paused for a break.
Swenson and Gebhardt chase Iditarod history
A pair of aging Minnesotans who've lived in Alaska so long they're almost part of the landscape led the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race through the Alaska Range on Monday night.
Fresh snow slows Iditarod - somewhat
With daytime temperatures starting to rise toward the freezing mark, defending champ Lance Mackey and his 16 dogs led the teams into the Rainy Pass checkpoint shortly before noon. He was only about 20 minutes off the pace set by Mitch Seavey of Sterling last year, but well off the 10 a.m. arrival of Cim Smyth from Big Lake in 2007.
DAY TWO: OFFICAL START, WILLOW
Every Iditarod musher leaves full of hope
Where experienced Alaska mushers like Jeff King and five-time champ Rick Swenson from Two Rivers were all speed and efficiency in preparing their dogs for the 1,000-mile trail ahead, most of the Iditarod rookies are just the opposite.
Live standings: Musher leaderboard
Photos: Ceremonial Start in Anchorage
Reader-submitted: Iditarod photos
Map: Iditarod trail and checkpoints
Mackey made last-minute dog picks
Lance Mackey, the two-time defending champion of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, isn't afraid of making last-minute decisions. With just 30 minutes to go before beginning the world's longest sled dog race, Mackey was still deciding Sunday which 16 dogs would go with him to Nome.
DAY ONE: CEREMONIAL START, ANCHORAGE
Carnival frenzy precedes real Iditarod racing
A barking, bouncing maelstrom of organized chaos filled Anchorage's Fourth Avenue Saturday morning as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicked off the annual madness destined to captivate many an Alaskan -- not to mention a few million global, Internet, sled-dog junkies.
Photos: Ceremonial Start in Anchorage
Audio Slideshow: 37th Iditarod Start
Video: Riding through Anchorage
Paul Gebhardt: No more bridesmaid
When Paul Gebhardt finally let his dogs trot down H Street on Saturday morning toward the ceremonial start of the 37th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race, sunlight flickered between the tall downtown buildings with a few slants playing off the musher's face.
PRE-RACE
Trail conditions improve overnight, but that could change
Blink twice, it has been said, and the weather in Alaska will change. Mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race were getting a vivid reminder of that this week.
Iditarod rookie Alexie's mission is twofold
Alaska Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Harry Alexie is on a cold, hard, long mission.
Wilderness racer gets through Rainy Pass
An effort to reach mountain bikers, skiers and runners trapped by deep snow along the Iditarod Trail high in the Alaska Range appeared to have succeeded Thursday, but only one was known to be through treacherous Rainy Pass.
Storm traps wilderness racers on Iditarod Trail
Iditarod trailbreakers already struggling with a snowed-in trail today were in a race to reach mountain bikers, skiers and runners trapped in the Alaska Range during a human-powered race.
Iditarod Trail missing under deep snow
As Anchorage began gearing up for Saturday's ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a hunt was under way to the north to find the track that will guide mushers 1,000 miles to Nome.
Royal families of the Last Great Race
When mushers talk bloodlines, usually dogs are the topic of conversation. But when it comes to the Iditarod, family ties extend to the human side of the race. As long as there has been an Iditarod, there have been three families shaping it, racing it, winning it -- the Redingtons, the Mackeys and the Seaveys.
Not all top mushers have a shot at winning the race
Babe will strut her stuff to Nome one last time
For eons, men have gone to pieces over babes. But how many have fallen apart at the mere mention of a geriatric, four-legged Babe who can blast through a ground blizzard to get to Nome.
You can lay odds on a Mackey Iditarod win
Thousands of overseas mushing fans will be rooting for -- or perhaps against -- Lance Mackey's bid for a third consecutive Iditarod championship. A British firm is offering odds on the champ.
As the spectacle that is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race unfolds in Anchorage once again, the subject on everyone's tongue is whether defending champ Lance Mackey can pull off a three-peat.
Touted as "The Home of the Finest Mushing on Earth" the small community of Two Rivers, just east of Fairbanks, has five sled dogs for every one person, according to some.
Carter wins Junior Iditarod going away
Cain Carter, stepson of two-time defending Iditarod champion Lance Mackey, flashed his pedigree on Sunday with a comfortable victory in the 150-mile Junior Iditarod.
Eagle River musher jumps into race at the last minute
How do you know when you no longer have the time, the will or the stamina for the grueling Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race?
Five former champs in '09 Iditarod pack
Defending champion Lance Mackey and four other former champions were among 68 mushers who signed up for the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday, despite a higher entry fee and a smaller guaranteed purse.
Standing provided by iditarod.com
© 2009 Iditarod Trail Committee, Inc.
AnchorageCloudy 21° (23°/14°)
Skwentna Partly cloudy 0° (12°/-13°)
McGrath Flurries -12° (-2°/-18°)
Kaltag Clear -13° (-2°/-11°)
Unalakleet Clear 18° (18°/8°)
Nome Mostly cloudy 16° (31°/12°)
Check out daily galleries from this year's race, and seven years worth of past Iditarods.
Track the race on the musher gallery leader board with updated results and standings.
Track the mushers through the race with live standings and photo galleries along the southern route of the Iditarod trail.
Audio interviews with the mushers along the Iditarod trail. Check back throughout the race for new clips.
Scenes and stories not only from this year's Iditarod, but from the off-season and past races.
The race dogs unable to continue the Iditarod are flown back and returned to the mushers or cared for at Hiland Mountain Correctional Facility.
Watch and listen to veterans and rookies alike talk about what the Last Great Race means to them as they get ready for the start of the 36th Iditarod.
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