Rookie jitters

Life for an Iditarod rookie is tough enough on the trail, but it can be even more stressful before the race. At least that's how Chugiak musher Michael Suprenant was feeling less than 40 days before he was to take on the Last Great Race.

Swingley looks like top dog

The field for the 28th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is the largest ever, with 81 mushers entered for the 1,100-mile mush from Anchorage to Nome.

Technology helps TV boost Iditarod coverage

As television producer Peter Henning hits the Iditarod Trail, he isn't worried about finding a fresh way to tell a story he's already told 18 times. He'll let the past guide him.

Mushers into Skwentna

Kasilof musher Jon Little led a group of four mushers into Skwentna on Sunday night to forge a narrow lead in the first 100 miles of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Iditarod Notebook

Out on the Iditarod Trail to Nome, there may be wanderlust and stardust. But on the not-so snowy paths leading through cyberspace, there's just plain musher lust.

'N and N' twins run race

Mark Nordman is not Jack Niggemyer. Really. No matter how many people think so. Mark Nordman was not separated at birth from Jack Niggemyer. Really. No matter how many people confuse them.

Iditarod Notes

Roving checkpoint of Cripple

Upbeat Alcina puts hard training to use

OPHIR -- Who is Juan Alcina?

Team's 3rd win in sight

SHAKTOOLIK -- Parked in warm sunshine behind the checkpoint here Sunday, Doug Swingley, defending champion of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, was a happy musher.

Now it's just a race for second place

As Iditarod defending champion Doug Swingley settled into White Mountain Monday night -- 77 miles from the Nome finish of the 28th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race -- his closest competitors steeled themselves and their dogs for the final grind in a different sort of contest.

Vaughan's ceremonial serum pack hits Nome

NOME -- Norman Vaughan, the intrepid, 94-year-old Alaskan adventurer, led a group of hardy snowmachiners and mushers onto Front Street Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the famed serum run that helped inspire the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Riley earns Iditarod redemption

NOME -- Crime and punishment. Forgiveness and redemption.

Damn the elements and just keep mushing

NOME -- Joe Redington really is the guiding light of the Iditarod Trail. If there was any doubt.

Veteran Boulding can whip the young pups

First of all, this birthday thing. Charlie Boulding goes around lying about his age. As soon as the calendar spills over into a new year, he figures he might as well roll over, too. Just round it off. What the hey.

Precious Paul trades WWF for the Iditarod

Precious Paul competes in a different wardrobe these days.

Mackey is ready this year

Rick Mackey of Nenana is racing in his 20th Iditarod, but the 1983 champion skipped the races in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Instead, he raced the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest those years, finishing second, first and third.

Downhill dash takes some fun out of ride

ROHN -- Fear of the unknown haunted the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race rookies on the verge of their first passage through the Alaska Range into the wild Interior.

'Bootie horn' a must

After seeing Nenana's Bill Cotter with a "bootie horn," Michigan rookie Mike Murphy just had to have one. The "bootie horn" is the doggie equivalent of a "shoe horn." A semicircular plastic tube with a rope leash and an elastic strap that a musher can wear around his or her wrist to keep the device from disappearing in the snow, the bootie horn costs $12. Murphy thought it was cute.

Swingley stretches his lead

With many of his closest competitors falling farther behind, defending champion Doug Swingley launched a swift team of 12 huskies toward the Bering Sea coast on Saturday night, leading what could become the fastest Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ever.

Iditarod champ

As a former ballpayer, Doug Swingley should appreciate a comparison to the New York Yankees. He's left Alaska's best long-distance mushers looking a little like the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers or Atlanta Braves. They're all so good, and yet right now the Montana musher is much better.

18-year-old a rookie no more

NOME -- For his next trick, Tony Willis will choose a college.