Published March 14 
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)
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)
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.
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)
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)
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)
