The Iditarod announced today that after six years without an increase, the prize purse for the 2024 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race® would be raised by $50,000 to a total of $574,000, which includes money earned through Iditarod Special Awards. 

This increase was a result of a commitment and subsequent fundraising effort by the Iditarod Board of Directors.  “Given that the pandemic and inflation disproportionately impacted our mushing community, we feel it is very important to increase the prize purse at this time. We realize more is needed to further defray the increasing costs of maintaining an Iditarod kennel, but this is the start  of what we hope will be our ability to further increase the purse,” said Mike Mills, President of the Iditarod Board of Directors.

The public will see more information regarding additional fundraising initiatives in the coming months as the Iditarod intends to find new ways to support both race operations and the mushers that compete in the Last Great Race on Earth®.