Day 11 of the race: In an incredible twist of fate, Dallas Seavey reached the finish line in first place, becoming the Iditarod 42 Champion. Not realizing that he had passed both Jeff King and Aliy Zirkle during the final leg of the race, Dallas thought until the last moment that he was in third position.

Aliy Zirkle, for the third time in a row, finished in second place, roughly 2 minutes behind Dallas. Mitch Seavey arrived in Nome in third place.

Day 8: Aliy Zirkle reclaimed the lead and left Kaltag for Unalakleet. Martin Buser is a close second, roughly 2 hours behind. Nicolas Petit, Sonny Lindner and Jeff King round out the top five.
Dallas Seavey is in the top 10, while John Baker is in Nulato, in 19th position. Kristy Berington left Ruby early in the morning, in 40th position.

John Baker

Kristy Berington

Jessie Royer checked out of Nulato in late morning with 15 dogs on her team, and heading to Kaltag.

Jeff King

Robert Sorlie of Norway is in 11th position, right behind Dallas Seavey. Wade Marrs is in 15th position. Karin Hendrickson checked into Galena, in 37th position.

Day 7 of the race: Aliy Zirkle is currently in first place, leaving the checkpoint of Galena in the morning. Martin Buser is a close second, however, he has already completed both his mandatory 8 hour and 24 hour layovers, while Aliy has yet to take her 8 hour layover.

Twin sisters Anna and Kristy Berington are in 44th and 42nd place respectively. They are almost half way through the race, on their way to the Ruby checkpoint

Mike Ellis

Mike Ellis is currently in 38th place.

Day 6 of the race: New Zealand Musher Curt Perano checked into Cripple late in the night and continued on to Ruby after a short stop. He has 14 dogs on his team.

Rookie Musher Nathan Schroeder (bib #25) has managed a respectable 22nd position. Danny Seavy left Ophir just before midnight.

Justin Savidis and Rookie Musher Lisbet Norris are on their way to Ophir, while Paul Gebhardt checked into Cripple.

Paul Gebhardt

Day 4 of the race: A rough day for even the most experienced Mushers. Several teams had to scratch and end their dream to reach Nome in this year's Iditarod. Among them, Deedee Jonrowe, Jake Berkowitz, Linwood Fiedler, Jim Lanier. On the bright side, Nicolas Petit left the checkpoint of Takotna in first place.

Matt Failor

Rookie Tommy Jordbrudal was able to navigate the treacherous trails through Rohn. Matt Failor, in 33rd place, checked into Nikolai in late evening.

Karen Ramstead

Karen Ramstead just pulled out of the race after the Rohn checkpoint.

Day 4 of the race: Musher Scott Janssen was forced to scratch due to an injury. Scott broke his leg between Rohn and Nikolai while trying to retrieve a loose dog.

Scott Janssen

Multiple mushing teams run head to head on the Iditarod trail. Karen Ramstead, Ray Redington Jr.

Ray Redington Jr.

Day 2 of the race: the official race restart took place in Willow in spite of concerns that there would not be enough snow on the trails. Rookie Musher Lev Shvarts leaves Willow and heads to the Yentna Station.

Iditarod 42 welcomes several teams from Norway and one representative of Sweden. Norwegian Musher Yvonne Dabakk on the first leg of the endurance race, as she passes by Gus Guenther.

Two more rookie Mushers, Katherine Keith (bib #63), and Abbie West (bib #69), lead their dog teams out of Willow.

Abbie West

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Day 1: A sunny day for the Ceremonial race start of the Iditarod 42, downtown Anchorage. This year, a total of 69 mushers were cheered by thousands of fans and enthusiasts, as the teams paraded down the 4th Avenue. The roster includes 53 veteran mushers and 16 rookies.

Monica Zappa, Iditarod Rookie

Peter Kaiser Dog Team

The twin sisters, Anna Berington (bib #52) and Kristy Berington (bib #56) are riding the Iditarod trail together.

Anna Berington

Rookie Musher Yvonne Dabakk from Oslo, Norway, seen waving her national flag, is thrilled to participate in the legendary race to Nome.

Finish Line in Nome: After a 1000 mile trek from Willow, Mitch Seavey crosses the finish line at 22:39 pm, becoming the 2013 Iditarod Champion. Tonight, Mitch Seavey celebrates his second Iditarod victory among a crowd of cheering fans. He continues to demonstrate sustained performance, finishing in the top 10 for 11 races out of the 20 Iditarods he has participated in since 1982.

Aliy Zirkle finished in 2nd place once again, a repeat of last year's race. Zirkle lost to Seavey by only 23 minutes, crossing the finish line with 10 dogs on her team.

Ray Redington Jr.

Jeff King, Dallas Seavey, and Ray Redington Jr.

Day 8 of the race: With the finish line only a few days away, Iditarod 41 is heating up. By the end of the day, Mitch Seavey, the race leader, is now in Shaktoolik, with Aaron Burmeister only an hour behind, in second place. Nome is roughly 200 miles away. Jeff King and Aliy Zirkle are 3rd and 4th, and they both left Unalakleet in late evening.

Aaron Burmeister Dogs

Musher Joar Leifseth Ulsom is in 5th position, an outstanding performance so far for the first time Iditarod rookie Musher.

Joar Leifseth Ulsom

Kristy Berington is in 45th place, leaving the Eagle Island checkpoint. Anna and Kristy are still riding the Iditarod trail together. Rookie Musher Cindy Abbott has reached Shageluk, in 60th position. She is approximately 300 miles behind the race leader.

Day 7 of the race: Martin Buser was first to reach the Kaltag checkpoint early afternoon, but decided to take a 6 hour stop over. Meanwhile, musher Aliy Zirkle only made a short rest and was first to leave Kaltag, taking the lead from Martin Buser. Aaron Burmeister is in second place, closely followed by Martin Buser, Mitch Seavy and Jake Berkowitz, only a few minutes apart.

Jake Berkowitz

Dallas Seavey Dog Team

Lance Mackey is in 11th position in Kaltag, while Ray Redington Jr. is in 10th place. Jeff King is in 12th place.

Ray Redington Jr.

Day 6 of the race: Martin Buser still in first place, has left the Grayling checkpoint and on his way to Eagle Island, a 62 mile leg. Buser passed Aliy Zirkle as she takes her 8 hour mandatory layover.

Jessie Royer (bib #30) has also checked into Grayling and is in 6th place.
Paul Gebhardt (bib #11) joined Royer at the checkpoint roughly 1 hour later, in 9th position.

Karin Hendrickson

Robert Bundtzen is currently in Shageluk in 24th position, with 15 dogs on his team.

Gerry Willomitzer and Mike Williams Sr. are in the middle of the pack, in 30th and 31st position respectively. They both left the Iditarod checkpoint early in the morning.

Mike Williams Sr.

Day 5 of the race: Roughly 500 miles to the finish line, Martin Buser is in the lead, followed by Aliy Zirkle. Ken Anderson is in 23rd position as he pulls into the Iditarod checkpoint.

Mitch Seavey

Ramey Smyth, bib #38, leaves Ophir in the morning and continues on to Iditarod, an 80 mile stretch. Ramey is currently in 29th place.

Ramey Smyth
Rookie Musher Joar Leifseth Ulsom from Norway has managed a respectable 10th position, trailing Ray Redington Jr.

Day 4: The leader is now over 400 miles from the race start. Lance Mackey reached the Iditarod checkpoint in late evening, with 13 dogs on his team. Sonny Lindner and Jeff King round up the top 3. At this time, not all Mushers have taken their mandatory 24 hour layover, so it is difficult to really determine the actual leader.

Bob Chlupach

Louie Ambrose Dog Team

The twin sisters, Anna Berington (bib #31) and Kristy Berington (bib #20) are riding the Iditarod trail together. They are in 36th and 35th place respectively, and both with 14 dogs on their team as they check into Takotna.

Kristy Berington

Rookie Musher Mike Ellis with his team of Husky dogs (below) are in 48th place. First time Iditarod participant Christine Roalofs is in 60th place as she reaches the checkpoint of Nikolai. Kelley Griffin reached Takotna in 27th position.

On day 3 of the race, Aaron Burmeister is first to McGrath in late evening, receiving the Penair Spirit of Alaska Award. McGrath is 300 miles from Willow. At this time, Aaron has not yet taken his mandatory 24 hour layover. Rookie Musher Josh Cadzow reached the Nikolai checkpoint with 15 dogs on his team. Josh is in 27th position as of March 5th.

Deedee Jonrowe checked into McGrath in 7th place with 16 dogs on her team, behind Paul Gebhardt, while Jodi Bailey (below) is in 37th position.

Linwood Fiedler (left) checked into Nikolai in 40th place behind Wade Marrs.

Day 2 of the race: While Martin Buser is taking his mandatory 24 hour layover at the Rohn checkpoint, Aaron Burmeister temporarily takes the lead.
Veteran Musher Aliy Zirkle, from Two-Rivers, tries her 13th Iditarod. She has participated every year since 2001.

Jamaican Musher Newton Marshall (right) makes a come back in the Iditarod after skipping the 2012 race. 2013 is Newton's 3rd participation in the Iditarod.

Jim Lanier

Other veteran Mushers, such as Jeff King, Jim Lanier (left) and Sonny Lindner (above) have also joined Iditarod 41.

After his last run in 2005, we are glad to see that Canadian Musher Aaron Peck is back on the Iditarod trail this year.

Anna Berington

Martin Buser kicked off Iditarod 41 as he was the first out of the gate in Willow, wearing bib #2. Martin reached Rohn in less than 24 hours, the fastest time on record.

Kristy Berington

Rookie Musher Travis Beals of Seward, bib #22, mushes his way to the first check point at Yentna station (below).

Travis Beals
At the end of day one, Musher Scott Janssen made the decision to abandon the race at Rainy Pass, due to concerns for his dog team.

Aaron Burmeister (left) outside of Willow.

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A foggy day at the Ceremonial Start of the 2013 Iditarod. A total of 67 teams, including the Honorary Musher, paraded down 4th Avenue. This year, 13 rookies joined the race. Among them, Mikhail Telpin from Yanrakkynot, Russia, is thrilled to participate in the 1049 mile endurance race to Nome.

Mikhail Telpin

Deedee Jonrowe

Martin Buser and Jim Lanier emerge from the thick fog. Visibility was fairly limited.

Martin Buser

The Iditarod always draws large crowds. Jake Berkowitz is greeted by cheering fans as he mushes down 4th Avenue at the Ceremonial Race Start on Saturday.

We will provide coverage of the 2013 Iditarod on March 2nd.

The 2013 Iditarod is only a few days away, and Mushers and their Dog Teams are hard at work to prepare for the big race. Jeff King, Jake Berkowitz and several other Iditarod Teams are seen during their training session in interior Alaska. Click on the pictures below to see more pictures of Jeff's and Jake's Dog Teams in action ...

Jake Berkowitz

Day 10 of the race: Dallas Seavey made History by being the youngest Musher, at age 25, to win the Iditarod. Dallas completed the 1000 mile race from Willow to Nome in 9 days, 4 hours and 29 minutes. Dallas has been a strong contender, having participated in 6 Iditarods since 2005, and finishing in the top 10 everytime since 2009. But tonight, Dallas can celebrate his first victory...

Aliy Zirkle who held on to the lead for several days, finished in 2nd place with 10 dogs on her team, just one hour behind Dallas Seavey. Aliy has competed every year since 2001, and made her best run in 2012.

Bruce Linton

Ramey Smyth ran an incredible race, passing dozens of teams and eventually crossing the finish line in Nome in 3rd place. Ramey also had a strong 2nd place finish in last year's Iditarod.

Oil painting renditions of your favorite Iditarod Mushers ... If you enjoy this type of artwork, visit this gallery for more Oil Painting Renditions.

Sonny Lindner Oil Painting

Day 9 of the race: Dallas Seavey was first to leave the Elim checkpoint in late afternoon. The leader is now less than 100 miles from the finish line, with 9 dogs on the team. The next Iditarod winner is expected to reach Nome on Tuesday March 13th. Aliy Zirkle is in 2nd place, 2 hours behind Dallas, while Ramey Smyth managed a 3rd position. Aaron Burmeister and Peter Kaiser round out the top 5. John Baker, the defending Champion, departed Koyuk early afternoon.

Dallas Seavey

Rookie Musher Brent Sass has done very well so far, climbing to the 14th position, while fellow Rookie Anjanette Steer is in 19th position.

Brent Sass' Dogs


Legendary Musher Dan Seavey, Bob Chlupach and Rookie Musher Jan Steves are on the tail end of the race near Galena.

Day 8 of the race: in a tactical move, Aaron Burmeister who had checked into Unalakleet in 3rd position decided to head to Shaktoolik after a short 4 hour rest, claiming the lead, with only 200 miles to the finish line. Dallas Seavey departed Unalakleet in 2nd position, only 6 minutes behind Aaron. Aliy Zirkle with 12 dogs on her team is now in 3rd place and is within half an hour from today's leader.

Peter Kaiser checked into Unalakleet in 8th position. Ken Anderson left Kaltag late last night and is in 13th place.

Jake Berkowitz

Colleen Robertia past Kaltag in 25th position, while Jake Berkowitz, from Big Lake, had to withdraw from the race at Unalakleet due to a hand injury. Jake was in 6th position when he made the decision to scratch.

On day 7 of the race, Musher Aliy Zirkle is widening her lead by approximately 3 hours over Mitch Seavey, currently in 2nd place. Aliy reached the Kaltag checkpoint with 14 dogs on her team. The finish line in Nome is now less than 300 miles away. With John Baker (in 3rd position) and Aaron Burmeister (in 4th) both within 1 hour of Mitch Seavey, the race for the 2012 Iditarod Championship is extremely tight. Dallas Seavey, currently in 5th position, left Nulato late morning.

Zoya DeNure is the 4th Musher to scratch from the race. Late last night, she gave up her bid to reach Nome at the Cripple checkpoint, due to concerns for her dogs.

Justin Savidis is in 41st position behind Ed Stielstra. They both left the Ruby checkpoint this morning. Nicolas Petit is currently in 33rd position and has checked into Galena.

After 500 miles since the start of the Iditarod, Aliy Zirkle pushes on: she is the first Musher to leave the Ruby checkpoint on Friday morning. Many of the favorite Mushers including Mitch Seavey, Dallas Seavey, John Baker, Jeff King and Deedee Jonrowe have made it to Ruby.

Brent Sass

Rookie Musher Brent Sass of Fairbanks has managed a respectable 16th position so far. Mike Santos is currently in 42nd place and has checked into Cripple.

Mike Santos

Rookie Musher Jaimee Kinzer of Willow is currently is 59th position, resting at the Ophir checkpoint.

AnJanette Steer has reached Cripple and is in 28th position.

Day 5 of the race: Aliy Zirkle, re-energized from her 24 hour mandatory layover, reclaimed the lead and was the first to leave the Cripple checkpoint, a mere 23 minutes ahead of runner up Mitch Seavey. Cripple marks the halfway point of the Iditarod, and with less than 500 miles to Nome, speculations on the next Champion are mounting.

Anna Berington

Kristy and Anna Berington have reached the Ophir checkpoint and are in 50th and 49th place respectively.

After the 24 hour mandatory break, the leader board gets reshuffled. Martin Buser and his son Rohn Buser left the checkpoint of Takotna Wednesday morning, where Aliy Zirkle is still resting.

Arriving at Ophir later in the day, Martin Buser is in 1st position, followed by Rohn and Jim Lanier. Trent Herbst, who recently moved to Anchorage, rounds out the top 4.

Canadian Musher Michelle Phillips checked into Takotna in 17th place, a few minutes behind Deedee Jonrowe.

Kristy Berington and twin sister Anna
are in 42nd and 41st place, taking their layover in Takotna.

Aliy Zirkle is holding on to the lead on the third day of the race by a very narrow margin. John Baker, the defending Iditarod Champion, is within sight of the current leader as they both leave the Nikolai checkpoint.

Aliy Zirkle

Paul Gebhardt

Paul Gebhardt's arrival into Nikolai earns him the 7th position, ahead of Dallas Seavey and Ray Redington Jr.

Musher Aliy Zirkle took the lead, leaving Rohn late evening with all 16 dogs. She is followed by Kelley Griffin in second place, and Jeff King in third. Ed Stielstra, on his way to Yentna, is followed by 3 other Mushers on his heels.

Ed Stielstra

Iditarod 40 is now well under way as the 66 teams left Willow on Sunday, March 4th. Ray Redington Jr. wearing bib number 2, breaks trail on the first day.

Anna Berington joins her twin sister Kristy in the 2012 Iditarod.

Late in the evening, Dan Seavey and Silvia Furtw�ngler ride into the sunset, followed by Karen Ramstead.

The 2012 Iditarod has officially started on Saturday morning when the 66 Mushers led their dog teams down 4th Avenue during the Ceremonial race start. This year, some heavy snow was part of the event, but the weather did not deter the estimated 5000 fans from attending and cheering their favorite teams. Several Iditarod icons are among the participants including Lance Mackey, DeeDee Jonrowe, Jeff King and Martin Buser.

Heavy Snow

Anna Berington

Iditarod 40 welcomes rookie mushers such as Travis Cooper of Big Lake and Anna Berington of Kasilof. The Berington name may not be unfamiliar to the avid Iditarod followers. Indeed, Kristy Berington, now a veteran musher, is Anna's twin sister.

The 2012 Iditarod also sees the return of Jim Lanier, famous for his all white dog team, as well as Karen Ramstead and her beautiful Siberian Huskies.

The Seavey family embodies a long tradition and passion for the Iditarod as 3 generations of Mushers participate in the 2012 race: Dan Seavey, Mitch Seavey and the young Dallas.

The Mushers of the Iditarod race over 1000 miles from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.
The sled dog race commemorates an historic event of 1925, when 20 dog teams rescued the town of Nome stricken by a diphtheria epidemic, by relaying precious serum 674 miles in just 27 hours (see map). Due to severe winter conditions, the serum could not be flown by airplane.

Today, the race lasts approximately 9 to 12 days. As of 2011, John Baker holds the title for the fastest Iditarod Winner by finishing the race in 8 Days 18 Hours 46 Minutes.