2009 Iditarod

Douglas Robson of The Atlantic writes about Alaska’s annual Iditarod, the 1,150 mile trail sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome that’s so popular among the locals–it literally effects the state’s productivity.

“But as the ‘Last Great Race’ has navigated periodic financial sinkholes over its 38 years, alleged cheating scandals, and attacks by animal rights activists, it has come to occupy a warm and fuzzy place in the collective consciousness.”

“Part myth and part history, the race captures the pioneering spirit of Alaska that many can identify with, regardless of political, socioeconomic, or ethnic background. First staged in 1973, and held every year since, starting the first Saturday in March, the Iditarod commemorates the emergency delivery by mushers of diphtheria medicine to Nome in 1925.”

photo credit: Alaskan Dude