Sixty-eight dog teams dashed out of the city Saturday for the start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race - a 1,160-mile trek across some of the world's most remote and unpredictable terrain.
Defending champion Martin Buser was the first musher out of the chute. Other mushers, most driving the maximum 20 dogs, followed at 2-minute intervals, cheered by thousands of race fans lining city streets covered with snow trucked in for the occasion."Goodbye - let's hit the trail and get there," Buser, a native of Switzerland, said before the start as his impatient dogs strained at their harnesses. He set the race record last year by finishing in 10 days, 19 hours and 17 minutes.
Chances of breaking that record this year were made more difficult by a rules change that mandated 10 additional hours of rest for the dogs. The rule was urged by animal-protection groups that have been monitoring the Iditarod since 1991.
The race, begun in 1973, commemorates a sled dog relay of lifesaving diphtheria serum to Nome during a 1925 epidemic.
Most of the contestants are from Alaska, with seven other states and three other countries represented.
Many mushers say the 20 miles between Anchorage and Eagle River, where the teams are packed up and driven 30 miles for a restart near Wasilla, is largely ceremonial. But veteran musher Joe Garnie knows otherwise.
"For the serious, competitive musher, the race starts right here," said Garnie, who placed second in 1986. "They're not fooling anybody by saying they're taking it easy."
Front-runners were expected to reach the checkpoint at Skwentna, 150 miles from Anchorage, by Sunday morning.
The race quickly heads into Alaska's vast, sparsely populated interior, where hazards include treacherous trail, brutal cold and exhaustion. Animals, particularly moose, are also a danger.
"You better be nervous about it out there," said four-time winner Susan Butcher, who last won in 1990. "You have to be on your toes between here and Nome."
The trail rises to 3,400 feet in crossing the Alaska Range before reaching the Bering Sea coast around the 900-mile mark for the stretch run into Nome.
The winner gets $50,000 from a total purse of $400,000. The runner-up will earn $43,000 and the person who finishes third gets $37,000. Payouts continue down to $9,500 for 20th place.