ALASKA'S NEWSPAPER

| Updated: 6:48 PM

Race 2006

DAY 18

Rookie Lockwood wraps up Red Lantern

An apparent bid by two mushers to win the Red Lantern as the last finisher in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ended Tuesday when rookie. Glenn Lockwood crossed the finish line in Nome

DAY 17

Sorensen fights through adversity to win race honor

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race started horribly for 47-year-old Norwegian Tove Sorensen but ended marvelously on Sunday when she learned the other competitors in the 1,100-mile adventure across Alaska had voted her the winner of the Chevron Most Inspirational Musher Award.

DAY 4

Mushers blown out by high winds

If scratching and being stranded with a team of 16 dogs for two days here at Rainy Pass Lodge wasn't difficult enough for Iditarod musher Lori Townsend of Willow, Wednesday's hurricanelike winds amplified her frustrations.

Burns leave musher resolute, looking to future

Second and third degree burns charred Jerry Riley's face. His right eye swelled shut. Some of his clothes had melted to his body. The musher seems perpetually composed, whether he's fighting his way through a ground blizzard on the Iditarod or fighting off the pain of a serious burn. The fire scalded his features, but not his hope of fielding another competitive dog team this season.

Norwegians make inroads

When the 34th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race starts in early March, more than 70 mushers and hundreds of sled dogs will begin the challenging 1,100-mile race to Nome.

Plucky global walker lugs sled over Iditarod Trail to promote charities

rmed with guts and determination, Rosie Swale Pope set out along the Iditarod Trail from White Mountain on Dec. 9 in the same way she has set out from so many remote communities since leaving the United Kingdom two years ago to hike around the globe:

Iditarod moves race restart to Willow

Despite forecasts of snow for Wasilla this weekend, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday pulled the plug on the scheduled March 5 restart of its race there.

DAY 5

Swingley not worried about King

With a 60-mile push across the Interior from Ophir to Cripple, Jeff King snatched the lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Thursday afternoon, but a cocky Doug Swingley didn't seem all that worried.

DAY 9

Iditarod leaders in sprint

Fresh off a 50-mile run across frozen Norton Sound, the dog team of Paul Gebhardt pulled into this checkpoint on the Bering Sea Coast on Monday in third place just hours behind the race leaders, Jeff King and Doug Swingley. The Kasilof musher wiped tiny icicles from his mustache.

DAY 15

Dutch Iditarod musher told to get off the trail

The slow pace of rookie musher Ben Valks got him booted from the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday.

DAY 13

Despite strong start, Currier's Iditarod hopes stopped in dogs' tracks

For 45-year-old, college-educated dog musher Judy Currier, the 2006 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race turned painfully from the best of times to the worst of times on Thursday.

DAY 12

Top 30 Iditarod finishers already into Nome

The top 30 mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race were already into Nome and across the finish line Thursday morning, swapping stories about their adventures competing in the longest sled dog race in the world.

DAY 13

Despite strong start, Currier's Iditarod hopes stopped in dogs' tracks

For 45-year-old, college-educated dog musher Judy Currier, the 2006 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race turned painfully from the best of times to the worst of times on Thursday.

DAY 5

Swingley not worried about King

With a 60-mile push across the Interior from Ophir to Cripple, Jeff King snatched the lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Thursday afternoon, but a cocky Doug Swingley didn't seem all that worried.

DAY 15

Dutch Iditarod musher told to get off the trail

The slow pace of rookie musher Ben Valks got him booted from the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday.

DAY 11

Race set by timing of rest

The extra rest Montana musher Doug Swingley gave his fading dog team along the Bering Sea coast on Tuesday allowed Jeff King from Denali Park to coast to a fourth Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race victory early Wednesday morning.

DAY 6

Hazard in middle of trail leaves sleds battered and broken

Lucky ones solve trail difficulties while others get stumped.

CEREMONIAL START

The long run

From the helicopters over downtown Anchorage to the crowds swarming the streets, it's clear Iditarod is the new Anchorage Fur Rondy Championships.

DAY 2

Iditarod leaders leave Rainy Pass

As Iditarod mushers Robert Bundtzen and Bryan Bearss headed for this checkpoint high in the Alaska Range on Monday, Iditarod veteran Zack Steer poured himself a cup, took a slurp and settled back to watch the progress of his dogs via the internet.

DAY 4

Mushers blown out by high winds

If scratching and being stranded with a team of 16 dogs for two days here at Rainy Pass Lodge wasn't difficult enough for Iditarod musher Lori Townsend of Willow, Wednesday's hurricanelike winds amplified her frustrations.

DAY 17

Sorensen fights through adversity to win race honor

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race started horribly for 47-year-old Norwegian Tove Sorensen but ended marvelously on Sunday when she learned the other competitors in the 1,100-mile adventure across Alaska had voted her the winner of the Chevron Most Inspirational Musher Award.

Photo galleries

Check out daily galleries from this year's race, and seven years worth of past Iditarods.

2012 Leader board

Track the race on the musher gallery leader board with updated results and standings.

2012 Trail map

Follow the mushers along the Iditarod trail's northern route, with live standings at each checkpoint.

2012 Reader photos

Check out the The Last Great Race from the fans' perspective as readers post photos from every checkpoint along the Iditarod trail.

Armchair Musher: Sebastian Schnuelle

Musher Sebastian Schuelle will be following this year's Iditarod on snowmachine and writing about it for the ADN.

The Sled Blog

Follow the news and notes leading up to the Iditarod and, after the race begins, live from the trail.

Dallas and Aliy catch up

Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey greets Aliy Zirkle in Nome after she finished in second place, an hour behind Seavey.

Grumpy mushers

Happy mushers make for happy dogs. And vice versa, Iditarod racers say. Iditarod musher Brent Sass and Armchair Musher Sebastian Schnuelle explain it.

Leaders' strategy

Race leaders Aliy Zirkle and Dallas Seavey talk about their race strategy in the last half of the Iditarod.

Marshall comes home

Scott Janssen's dog Marshall, who was resuscitated by Janssen on the trail, has a homecoming in Anchorage.

Dog CPR

Musher Scott Janssen describes having to resuscitate his dog Marshall.

Checkpoint chatter

Want to hear what a checkpoint sounds like? Watch this video.

Sled dancing?

While resting at the Takotna checkpoint, 2011 Iditarod champion John Baker talks about whether Aliy Zirkle could win the race, what fans should make of the pace and how you might catch him dancing to 80s music on the dog sled.

Iditarod wagers

We asked Dan Seavey who has the faster team, Seavey's son Mitch or his grandson, Dallas.

Back of the pack

Iditarod rookie Matt Failor was the last musher to leave the Skwentna checkpoint on Monday morning. Failor, from Mansfield, Ohio, explains why it's all part of the plan and why doesn't expect to stay in last place for long.

Iditarod newsletter

Sign-up for the Iditarod newsletter to receive "Postcards from the Trail," archived images sent out in the weeks leading up to the ceremonial start, and then our twice-daily updates during the race.

Susan Butcher memorial

This photo retrospective covers more than two decades of Iditarod racing.

AnchorageShowers 50° (50°/47°)

Skwentna Mostly cloudy 50° (55°/39°)

McGrath Partly sunny 61° (61°/36°)

Kaltag Mostly cloudy 58° (61°/34°)

Unalakleet Cloudy 32° (36°/27°)

Nome Partly sunny 47° (46°/34°)