Our favorite photos from the 2021 Iditarod

Here’s a collection of memorable images from a unique race.

By Marc Lester, Loren Holmes, Zachariah Hughes, Bill Roth

Updated: March 24, 2021 Published: March 15, 2021

Matthew Failor arrives at the Iditarod finish line in Willow to cheers from Iditarod veteran DeeDee Jonrowe on March 16, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Paige Drobny gets a kiss from her husband Cody Strathe at the Iditarod finish line in Willow on March 16, 2021. Drobny finished 19th and Strathe finished 20th in the 2021 Iditarod. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Sable, a lead dog with Cody Strathe's 2021 Iditarod team, sleeps in the sunshine on March 16, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Jessie Royer reaches Deshka Landing to finish Iditarod on March 15, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Jessie Royer talks with fellow veteran musher Jeff Deeter at Deshka Landing after they both finished Iditarod on March 15, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Veteran Iditarod musher and current Mat-Su Borough mayor Vern Halter applauds as Jeff Deeter reaches the finish line of the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 15, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Joar Leifseth Ulsom hugs his wife Margot Ulsom at the finish line of the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 15, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Richie Diehl of Aniak reaches Willow, the end of the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 15, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Wade Marrs hugs one of his dogs at the finish of the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 15, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Six dogs bring Ryan Redington into the finish of the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 15, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Ryan Redington is tested for COVID-19 after finishing the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 15, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Aaron Burmeister, right, talks with Iditarod race winner Dallas Seavey after Burmeister arrived in Willow in second place Monday morning. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Aaron Burmeister kisses lead dogs Charley and Dudley after finishing the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 15, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Aaron Burmeister's dog Aries stands with his teammates at the Iditarod finish line on March 15. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Aaron Burmeister of Nenana arrived in Willow to place second in the 2021 Iditarod. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Dallas Seavey, right, is greeted by his parents Janine and Mitch Seavey after he arrived in Willow to win the 2021 Iditarod early Monday morning. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Dallas Seavey poses with his dogs after winning the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race race near Willow early Monday. (Marc Lester/ADN)

Dallas Seavey's team runs into the chute near the finish line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race race near Willow early Monday morning. Seavey has won the Iditarod and matched a milestone in the world's most famous sled dog race. It's the fifth title for the 34-year-old Seavey, matching the record of most wins by any musher. (Marc Lester/ADN)

Mille Porsild mushes up a hill before Finger Lake on Sunday, March 14, 2021 during the 2021 Iditarod. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

The 2021 Iditarod Sled Dog Race looked different from beginning to end, due to COVID-19 precautions. The race was shorter, the route was different. Mushers, staff and volunteers were subject to many rules, designed to keep everyone as safe as possible. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the race.

Joar Leifseth Ulsom mushes across Finger Lake on Sunday. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Joar Leifseth Ulsom puts booties on his dogs before leaving the Finger Lake checkpoint on Sunday. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Michelle Phillips mushes over an ice bridge on the Happy River on Sunday. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Michelle Phillips tries to decide if she is going to go back to sleep after her phone alarm woke her up an hour early during a rest stop at the mouth of the Happy River on Sunday. Her phone automatically adjusted itself overnight because of Daylight Saving Time, depriving her of an hour's sleep. She decided to go back to sleep for an additional half hour. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Mushers handle their dog care on a cold morning in the McGrath checkpoint on Saturday March 13th. It was around -20 and warming up. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

Ryan Redington with his team in harness (right) stops near a team bedded down near the trail as the race heads toward the checkpoint of Rohn during the Iditarod on Saturday. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

Past Iditarod champions Joar Leifseth Ulsom, right, and Pete Kaiser, middle, pose for a photo together with Richie Diehl in the Ophir checkpoint during the Iditarod on Friday March 12th. The three are close friends and have been traveling close together for sections of the race. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

Joar Leifseth Ulsom leaves the Ophir checkpoint with his dog team as a small plane takes off from the runway on Friday. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

Jessie Holmes takes a break from cooking his dogs a meal to nuzzle with two wheel dogs in Ophir on Wednesday March 10th. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

An outhouse set up for mushers at the barebones Ophir checkpoint, consists of a bucket, tarp, and straw bales on Wednesday. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

Matt Failor’s dogs rest under fleecy blankets in McGrath during the Iditarod on Wednesday. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

Dallas Seavey uses a knife to cut blocks of snow to melt in his cooker feeding his dogs during a rest break at the Iditarod checkpoint on Thursday. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

Matt Hall’s sled bag is covered with writing, including encouraging notes from family and the mileage between checkpoints along the route. Photographed in McGrath on Wednesday March 10th. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

Jessie Royer handles dog chores in McGrath on Wednesday. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

Susan Smith is the principal at the school in Takotna. She brought art made by her students to the checkpoint in McGrath so that mushers would see it, although the Iditarod Sled Dog Race is skipping Takotna as a checkpoint this year. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

A snowmachiner drags a pallet to smooth out snow lanes in the new dog lot which has been set up in McGrath to accommodate Covid precautions. It is a tidy and well laid out staging area, complete with parking lanes for the Iditarod teams. (Zachariah Hughes/for ADN)

Ryan Redington leaves the Rohn checkpoint after a quick stop, carrying straw to rest his team during the long run to Nikolai, on Monday, March 8. (Zachariah Hughes / for ADN)

Victoria Hardwick feeds her dog team while resting at the Finger Lakes checkpoint in the Alaska Range during the Iditarod on Monday. (Zacharah Hughes / for ADN)

Gunnar Johnson and his dog team travel down the Susitna River during the Iditarod start on Sunday, March 7. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Wade Marrs drives his sled around a sharp corner on the Susitna River during the start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race near Willow on Sunday, March 7, 2021. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Iditarod rookie Will Troshynski travels down the Susitna River at the beginning of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Sunday, March 7. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Brent Sass tends to his sled on the Susitna River during the start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race . (Bill Roth / ADN)

Ryne Olson drives her dog team past campfires on the Susitna River during the start of the Iditarod. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Mille Porsild and her dog team pass by Camp Flamingo on the Susitna River at the start of the Iditarod Sunday, March 7. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Four-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey rounds a corner on the Susitna River during the start of the Iditarod. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Matt Hall drives his dog team on the Susitna River during the start of the Iditarod. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Pete Kaiser begins his 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Deshka Landing, Sunday, March 7, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Paige Drobny high-fives people before beginning her Iditarod. Forty-six mushers began the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race from Deshka Landing in Willow on March 7, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Michelle Phillips of Tagish, Yukon, waves at the start of her run of the Iditarod. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Aaron Burmeister and his team leave the starting area. Forty-six mushers began the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race from Deshka Landing in Willow on March 7, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Aliy Zirkle, of Two Rivers, greets fans as she passes by. Zirkle says this is will be her last Iditarod start. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Cindy Hite, center, cheers on mushers with a megaphone at the start of the Iditarod at Deshka Landing in Willow. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Aaron Burmeister's dogs run from the Iditarod starting area. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Larry Daugherty, a musher from Eagle River, will carry empty packages of COVID-19 vaccine with him on the trail this year. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Marc Lester

Marc Lester is a multimedia journalist for Anchorage Daily News. Contact him at mlester@adn.com.

Loren Holmes

Loren Holmes is a staff photojournalist at the Anchorage Daily News. Contact him at loren@adn.com.

Zachariah Hughes

Zachariah Hughes covers the military, politics, drugs, dog mushing, subsistence issues and general assignments for the Anchorage Daily News. Prior to joining the paper he worked in Alaska’s public radio network, and got his start in journalism at KNOM in Nome.

Bill Roth

Photojournalist Bill Roth, a University of Alaska Anchorage graduate, has been working at the ADN over 37 years.