The first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, concieved and organized by Joe Redington Sr. and historian Dorthy Page was runin 1967 and covered only 56 miles. The race was lengthed in 1973, and the first ever 1,100 mile race began in Anchorage on March 3, 1973, and ended April 3 in Nome.

following the old dog team mail route blaxed in 1910 from Knik to Nome, the trail crosses two mountain ranges, follows the Yukon River for about 150 miles, runs through several bush villages and crosses the pack ice of Norton Sound.

The route attracted national attention in 1925 when sled dog mushers relayed 300,000 units of life-saving diphteria serum to epidemic-threated Nome.

Back