When someone new to the Iditarod hears that it is a sled dog race that goes from Anchorage to Nome, I’m sure they first picture a well-defined race course that is a fixture in the state. I am from Massachusetts, and when I first heard about the race, mental images of the Boston Marathon came to mind; people cheering on the sidelines of a well-established route, and the athletes vying for position the entire time. However, what I have learned over the years is that the race route actually changes frequently, which is something else that makes this race, truly, The Last Great Race. 

One of the first things one learns about the Iditarod is that there is a “Northern Route”, and a  “Southern Route”. After the beginning part of the race that stays pretty much the same each year (Starting in Willow, and continuing to the junction at Ophir) the race either heads North or South. On the even numbered years (like this year in 2022), the trail heads North through the checkpoints of Cripple, Ruby, Galena, and Nulato. Whereas on the odd years, mushers travel  South through Iditarod, Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling and Eagle Island. At this point, the Northern and Southern routes converge again at the junction of Kaltag, where the mushers then run the same route to the finish line in Nome. 

However, there are years that Mother Nature doesn’t come through with the needed snow near the start of the race, and then the fallback is another route called the “Fairbanks Route”. These races start in Fairbanks, then pass through Nenana, Manley Hot Springs, Tanana, Ruby, Galena, Huslia, Koyukuk and Nulato. 

Ryan Redington coming into Iditarod. Photo Credit: Dave Poyzer

This past year however brought a completely new route to the Iditarod race archives. The 2021 Gold Loop Trail ran the same start as the Southern route, but went as far as the namesake of the race, the ghost town of Iditarod, and back. There was no ceremonial start in Anchorage, and instead the race started at Deshka Landing. This was a slightly different starting point than Willow, which had been used previously. During this race, the route was supposed to go out to the ghost town of Flat, where the mushers would turn around and head back to Iditarod to continue their return trip. However during the race, Mother Nature had other ideas. Between the towns of Iditarod and Flat, there was too much snow for the trail breakers to keep the trail open. So the change was made to have the mushers turn around at Iditarod instead. 

What I found most interesting when it comes to race routes, is that even on “normal years” trail conditions and obstacles frequently change the course of the route. When it comes to a trail that spans over 1,000 miles, there are so many unknowns that maintaining the identical route year-to-year is nearly impossible. Trail conditions are constantly changing. Mother Nature can cause overflow in creeks and rivers, and force a crossing to happen at a different location either somewhere up or downstream. As Dan Seavey stated in his book The First Great Race about the first Iditarod, “Interestingly, the mileages from checkpoint to checkpoint vary from year to year, depending on the conditions. Before there was a well established trail, they varied even more. Trail breakers have to deal with local river and lake conditions, as well as snowfall for that year… Over time, a race trail has developed, but is still subject to local weather and geography” (pg. 442).

Jumble Ice. Photo Credit: Harry Kern

When I discussed this topic with Race Marshal Mark Nordman, he mentioned a few places during the course of the trail that typically change depending on the weather. The first area  that the mushers will encounter is the Yukon River. “Some years we go on the North side of the river, sometimes we go on the South side. Of course the Yukon is a huge body of water, so that can be a mile difference, or sometimes two miles even.” However, the area that most people who follow the race are aware of is in the area of Norton Sound. In this section of the race, mushers cross a portion of the ocean that has frozen over. Depending on weather conditions and wind, this section can change from one year to the next. “From Shaktoolik to Koyuk, it all depends on the sea ice. You’ll see that on most of our maps it’s pretty much a straight line from Shaktoolik to Koyuk. However, many times we have to go inland to get around jumble ice and different things, so that’s a place where it can vary 3,4,5 miles, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but at that time of the race it can be.”

As Seavey also alluded to in his book, with a more defined trail, the mileage is more consistent. The southern route has a much less established trail, simply due to the infrequency it is used. Nordman stated “The challenges can become more on the southern route mostly because of the lack of travel. Very few people ever go from Ophir to Iditarod, except when we do, so there’s really no travel there. But then when you get to Anvik, from Anvik on up to Kaltag, you are going up river and the wind is in your face, and that can be a real problem. You are going up river and the wind is coming down river and there again, Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling is travelled constantly. A lot of the trails are used routinely for holidays, and basketball tournaments. But when you leave Greyling, on up to Eagle Island and then to Kaltag, very little travel [again] on that route except for when we come through.”

The northern route in comparison has a more defined trail according to Nordman. “Ophir to Ruby is pretty much the same trail. It’s used by Iron Dog, and they always use the northern route. But from Ruby to Nulato down to Kaltag, that’s where you can get some variation, but it is routinely traveled.” The Iron Dog that he talked about here is a race using snow machines that comes through before the Iditarod. You can find out more about that race here: https://www.irondog.org/

Due to the ever-changing nature of the trail, the exact mileage of the Iditarod race does fluctuate, even though the distances are always listed on the race maps on the Iditarod website. However, despite these minor alterations, the overall mileage is always posted as 1,049 miles. This is because the trail is approximately 1,000 miles long and Alaska is the 49th state – therefore making 1,049 miles the “unofficial” distance of the Iditarod race.

Teachers: Take a look at this article from Sanka, talking about the option of going straight across the middle of the state rather than taking the Norther or Southern route. Have your class try to answer some of the questions in this article! https://iditarod.com/eye-on-the-trail-iditarod-and-flat-mile-432/