Iditarod

The Iditarod is a 1,100 mile sled dog race starting in Anchorage, Alaska and ending in Nome, Alaska. The Iditarod is very harsh and dangerous with almost unbearable conditions. This twenty six year old race is known as the last great race.

The history of the Iditarod has been filled with tales of bad weather and great fineshis. In 1973 In Anchorage Alska thirty five sled dog racers known as mushers gathered at the starting. In 1995 Doug Swingy line going after a 50,000 dollar purse. Nobody knew if any of them would finish the race but the 1100 mile trek across the ice and the mountains in 20 days however the last place finisher crossed the finish line in the slowest time ever of over 32 days.

In 1976 Jerry Riley won the race and received

the lowest purse ever of $7,200. It ended up costing him as much to run in the race as he received

when he won it. Jerry Riley later became banned from sled dog racing when he hit one of his dogs with a snow hook. In 1978 Iditarod, there was a controversial

finish when one mushers dog crossed the line first but hte other mushers sled crossed the lin first. The race was later given to the mushers who's dog crossed the finish line first. Doug Swingey recorded the fastest time ever when he finshed the race in 9 days and 2 hours. Susan Buther is probably the most famous Iditarod musher. She was the first woman to finish in the top 20 top 19 and top 5. She then had a remarkable streak of wins starting in 1986. She won again in 87 and 90. She won more prize money than any other Iditarod musher.