Trail has tales beyond winner hitting Nome

While Lance Mackey's record fourth consecutive victory commanded most of the attention, several other Iditarod stories were playing out along the 1,000-mile trail to Nome.

Schnuelle wins humanitarian award for dog care

One of the highest honors in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race -- the award for the musher who took outstanding care of his dogs while remaining competitive on the trail -- went to Whitehorse musher Sebastian Schnuelle on Sunday night in Nome.

The Sled Blog: See the full list of 2010 Iditarod award winners

Iditarod ends with no dog deaths

Iditarod ends with no dog deaths

As the final teams in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race crossed the finish line Saturday night, race officials said no dogs had died along the 1,000-mile marathon across Alaska.

First musher from Jamaica finishes Iditarod

Two back-of-pack Iditarod mushers test positive for drugs

Two mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race have tested positive for THC, the pyschoactive compound in marijuana, race officials said Thursday. But race officials say a new rule calling for drug testing isn't clear enough to impose sanctions.

Musher greets Mackey in Jamaica

Lance Mackey, fresh from his fourth consecutive win in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, is visiting Jamaica with his family.

Iditarod documentary nominated for Emmy

For the fourth consecutive year, the Iditarod Trail Committee's documentary of the race has earned an Emmy nomination.

Iditarod fundraiser is one of the biggest yet

It's been a very good year for one of the biggest fundraisers for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Iditarod mushers test negative for drugs

The first 40 finishers in the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race have tested clean of any illegal substances, an exoneration of sorts for winner Lance Mackey, who has been criticized for using medical marijuana in past Iditarods.

Iditarod mushers test clean of illegal drugs

The first 40 finishers of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race have tested clean of any illegal substances, including winner Lance Mackey, who has acknowledged using medical marijuana in past Iditarods.

2010 IDITAROD: DAY ELEVEN

Iditarod history repeats itself: Mackey wins 4th straight

Lance Mackey, stripped to long underwear and a knee brace, scanned the innards of the White Mountain city hall refrigerator, looking for grub.

Photos: Day 11 (Mackey wins Iditarod)

Video: Mackey in Nome - dogs, bones and trucks

Behind Mackey, surgers and strugglers

Analysis: Mackey is the dominant distance musher of his time

Lance Mackey has pulled out a remarkable fourth consecutive title, and if there's anything left to prove, it would be simply that Mackey is the most dominant distance musher of his time. He has a natural gift with the dogs, raw determination and a toughness born from a life of hard knocks.

Mackey hours from record 4th straight win

Lance Mackey is approaching Nome, with a finish expected in the next few minutes. The race's GPS tracking system showed him within two miles of the finish line. Hans Gatt, in second place, was nine miles back.

2010 IDITAROD: DAY TEN

Mackey in White Mountain, 77 miles from win

Reigning Iditarod champ Lance Mackey -- in pursuit of a record four-straight victories -- widened his lead Monday by surging across the Norton Sound coast with the finish line less than a day away.

Photos: Day 10 (Koyuk and Elim)

Video: King in Elim as Mackey surges

Expect finish by midday Tuesday

Behind Mackey, surgers and strugglers

Jon Little: Races within the race heat up

While Lance Mackey began his mandatory eight-hour layover at White Mountain, dozens of more dog drivers jockeyed for position for their highest possible Iditarod finish.

Behind Mackey, surgers and strugglers

Three-time champion Lance Mackey pulled into Elim early this afternoon, fed his dogs and mushed on, seeking to expand a comfortable lead of more than two hours in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Into the homestretch, odds favor Mackey

Mushing into an Arctic headwind, the top three teams in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race crossed the Norton Sound ice in the dark early this morning. Little changed as they reached the twinkling lights of Koyuk, just 170 miles from Nome.

Race analysis: Do we turn out the lights?

It's an old cliché, and I don't like it because it is stated in the negative, but it fits: This race is Lance Mackey's to lose at this point.

2010 IDITAROD: DAY NINE

Mackey leads onto Norton Bay ice

Three-time defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Lance Mackey and his chief rival, Jeff King, played a mushing version of catch-me-if-you-can up the Norton Sound coastline Sunday with a huge prize awaiting the winner.

Missing dog finally shows up in McGrath

After being lost more than four days in sub-zero cold, Whitey-Lance, the 3-year-old dog of Iditarod rookie Justin Savidis, was found late Sunday.

Volunteers tend dropped dogs

Behind the Millennium Alaskan Hotel, hundreds of miles from their teammates on the Iditarod Trail, sled dogs with sore wrists, frostbitten lips or tired bones rested on piles of straw. Volunteers checked vitals, ladled out kibble, and comforted weary dogs. Over the weekend, the place was hopping.

Unalakleet's mushing mayor on trail

While the leaders in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race were heading toward Koyuk Sunday, the village of Unalakleet was preparing for the arrival of the town's mayor, William "Middy" Johnson.

Jon Little: Four-way hunt for first at Unalakleet

There’s a four-way race to win the 2010 Iditarod, and it is tough to determine which team has the advantage as they rest at Unalakleet.

Race heats up as Mackey passes King

Lance Mackey came. Lance Mackey went. And suddenly, the Iditarod had a new leader as two juggernauts of the Last Great Race maneuvered for position along a 90-mile stretch of trail leading from this Yukon River village across open spruce forest to the Norton Sound coast. Sunday morning, the race was still on, with both Mackey and King headed out of Unalakleet and up the coast.

2010 IDITAROD: DAY EIGHT

Mackey skips resting, passes King at Kaltag

Lance Mackey zipped in and zipped out of Kaltag early this afternoon to steal the lead from Jeff King as the race for Nome heated up in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Jon Little: Mackey doing what he does best

Lance Mackey appears to be a man of his word, and great faith in the ability of his dog team. The reigning three-time champion is putting that confidence to the test at a crucial stage of the Iditarod – a move that may be the deciding factor if Mackey is to become the first musher ever to win four Iditarods in a row

Deja vu as Mackey passes King at Kaltag

Saturday, Mackey, the defending champion with three straight wins, snatched the lead from Jeff King, leaving the four-time champ behind in the Kaltag checkpoint where he rested his dog team for about four hours.

Rookie's dog goes missing near McGrath

More than two days have passed now since Willow rookie musher Justin Savidis last saw his 3-year-old wheel dog, Whitey-Lance.

2010 IDITAROD: DAY SEVEN

Anchorage rookie yearns for Nome

Emil Churchin, slam poet and dog musher, rubbed the leg of a sled dog named Scully on Friday morning looking for cramps. "Good girl ... Good girl. ... OK, so she's got a little soreness right here," Churchin said, pouring a pungent oil on his hands to warm the muscles.

King leads pack out of Galena

Rookie's dog goes missing near McGrath

Reader-submitted photos

Jon Little: 'Huge pack of talent' not far behind King

Jeff King's team trotted down the Yukon River on Friday afternoon with a 10-mile lead over the closest competitor, reigning champion Lance Mackey, with Hugh Neff minutes behind Mackey. Expect that pattern to hold for a while. But there may be a few other teams joining the picture soon enough.

2010 IDITAROD: DAY SIX

Sportsmanship alive and well on the trail

Sam Deltour, a 25-year-old medical student from Belgium, ran a charmed race during his rookie Iditarod run in 2008. No big crashes. No dropped dogs. This year? Not so easy.

King, Mackey lead pack out of Cripple

No injuries in plane crash near Ophir checkpoint

Sled Blog: Meet the dogs -- Houston

Faraway fans feed Iditarod habit on Web

Cathleen Griffin usually feeds her passion for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race through the Internet, but next week she'll travel to Alaska for the first time to see the winner cross the finish line in the old gold rush town of Nome.

Iditarod racers go gourmet on trail

Mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race take care of their dogs first when they stop to rest, massaging sore paws and serving up stews of hearty grub for their teams.

2010 IDITAROD: DAY FIVE

Battered but not beaten, mushers and dogs rest

Resting dog teams practically outnumbered local residents Wednesday in Takotna where retired pathologist and 69-year-old musher Jim Lanier sat in the tribal hall after finishing a burger.

Photos: Day 5 (McGrath and Takotna)

Two mushers pass Cripple heading for Ruby

Iditarod mystery: How far is it to Nome?

Sixth musher scratches in Rohn

Baker delays 24-hour rest, eyes halfway prize

While most Iditarod front-runners were in the middle of their 24-hour layovers in Takotna, Ophir or McGrath, John Baker of Kotzebue struck out alone for Cripple, the abandoned mining town where he should be able to claim the $3,000 halfway prize.

2010 IDITAROD: DAY FOUR

Farewell Burn better than expected

Whitehorse musher Sebastian Schnuelle kneeled on the flat, frozen shore of the Kuskokwim River on Tuesday afternoon, rooting through his gear as he described some of the trail he had broken earlier in the day. It took three words.

Reader-submitted photos

Mackey says drug testing is aimed at him

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Every human competitor now running the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will be tested for alcohol and illegal drugs on the trail for the first time in the history of the 1,000-mile race -- a change defending champion Lance Mackey believes is directed at him.

Crash ends dream for ailing rookie

Chicago musher Pat Moon was diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis nine years ago, but that couldn't stop him from chasing his dream to run the Iditarod. Nor could being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 13 months ago. Tuesday a tree in Dalzell Gorge did.

Audio slide show: Moon delays cancer treatment to race the Iditarod

2010 IDITAROD: DAY THREE

Gebhardt first into Rainy Pass checkpoint

Two-time runner-up Paul Gebhardt of Kasilof seized the early lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race this afternoon.

Fiedler leads into Finger Lake

Mackey out to prove the naysayers wrong

Both knees are shot, injected with synthetic cartilage until he can have surgery next summer. His right arm is still healing from a major operation to fix a staph infection. He continues to deal with other side effects of cancer.

Mushers face big challenges on way to McGrath

The 350 miles to McGrath can be some of the most treacherous the Iditarod Trail dishes out all the way to Nome.

2010 IDITAROD OFFICIAL RESTART

Hoopla ends, and race to Nome begins

The race has started for real. On a gorgeous sunny winter day in front of a big crowd, Iditarod mushers on Sunday began heading down the trail on a 1,000-mile journey battling weather, trail conditions and competitors to be the first to Nome.

First racers reach Skwentna

29-pound lead dog has right stuff

Penny, a lean 29-pound Alaskan Husky with some German shorthair pointer blood, will pace rookie Kasilof musher Colleen Robertia's 15 other starters to Nome.

Video: Musher Colleen Robertia talks about taking dog ashes on the trail

2010 IDITAROD CEREMONIAL START

Iditarod a thrill for observers and drivers alike

Saturday's ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Downtown Anchorage -- most fans' best chance to see mushers and their dogs up close before they disappear into the Alaska wilderness -- showed the race still has the power to send chills through the saltiest veterans.

Reader-submitted photos

2010 IDITAROD PRE-RACE

Iditarod champs face talented rookies

As thousands of Iditarod fans watch Cim Smyth maneuver the streets of downtown Anchorage today, the Big Lake musher's eyes will be on his dogs, scanning for the smallest of clues.

Mackey is 'biggest fear' among those hoping to win

Nineteen of last year's top 20 finishers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race return today for another shot at the championship. The guy who's not? Nenana musher Aaron Burmeister, a lifelong student of the sport who placed 7th in 2009. We recently asked Burmeister about the top contenders for 2010.

Jonrowe's mother to have cancer surgery

Around the time Iditarod musher and breast cancer survivor DeeDee Jonrowe reaches the village of Koyuk along the Bering Sea coast, her 81-year-old mother will be facing a battle of her own back in Anchorage.

Anchorage cyclist Basinger wins Iditarod Invitational

A determined stretch run by Fairbanks cyclist Jeff Oatley fell just short before midnight Wednesday as Anchorage's Pete Basinger claimed his fourth victory in the human-powered Iditarod Invitational.

After dog deaths, rookie Iditarod mushers get new scrutiny

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race organizers tightened entry requirements for rookies this year following an unusually high number of dog deaths in 2009, the chief veterinarian for the race said Wednesday.

Iditarod dog deaths prompt new focus on musher skills

After six dog deaths in 2009, Iditarod organizers tightened entry requirements for rookies. Mushers new to the Iditarod are now rated by veterinarians and marshals in qualifying races to see how well they cared for their dogs.

From fashion runways to Alaska trails: Ex-model returns to Iditarod

A girl who was chosen and pampered during Models Week in Shanghai, who worked on the runways of exclusive designers in Milan, is now a far different woman in a far different place.

Zoya DeNure's Web site