|
Iditarod FAQs
- The first Iditarod race to Nome started March
3, 1973.
- The distance in miles of the Idatirod is given
as 1,049 but this is a symbolic figure. The distance
is always over 1,000 miles and 49 was added to
signify Alaska, the 49th state.
- The Northern Route is used in even-numbered years
and the Sourthern Route is used in odd-numbered
years. Actual total miles of the Northern Route
is 1,151; Actual total miles of the Southern Route
is 1161.
- The teams average 16 dogs, which means over 1,000
dogs leave Anchorage for Nome.
- The closest finish was in 1978. Dick Mackey finished
one second ahead of Rick Swenson. Mackey's time
was 14 days, 18 hours, 52 minutes and 24 seconds.
The winner was decided by the nose of the lead
dog across the finish line.
- The largest number of mushers to finish a single
race was 63 in 1992.
- A red lantern is awarded to the last musher to
finish. The longest time for a Red Lantern was
32 days, 15 hours, nine minutes and one second
by John Schultz in 1973. The quickest Red Lantern
musher was Ben Jacobson with a time of 17 days,
06 hours, 02 minutes and 05 seconds.
- Rick Swenson is the only five-time winner of "The
Last Great Race", having won in 1977, 1979,
1981, 1982 and 1991. He is now the only person
to win the Iditarod in three different decades,
a record that will probably never be broken.
- Four time winner, Susan Butcher, claimed Iditarod
victories in 1986, 1987, 1988 and again in 1990.
- The youngest musher to ever compete in the Iditarod
was Simon Kineen in 1994. He had just turned
18 when the Iditarod started. The oldest musher
to ever compete is Col. Norman Vaughan who was
87 when he completed the race in 1996. Col. Vaughan
has completed the race four times.
- Four hundred twenty one mushers from four continents
and 12 foreign countries (Austria, Australia,
Canada, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia)
have competed in Iditarod races since 1973, including
34 women.
Source: The Official Iditarod Homepage
- http://www.iditarod.com/
|
