What to know: Downtown Anchorage braces for a canine takeover as the Iditarod’s 54th run begins

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Hundreds of barking dogs will take over downtown Anchorage on Saturday for the ceremonial start of the world’s most famous sled dog race. The event, catered to fans who hope to see and cheer on their favorite mushers, takes place a day before the competitive start.

Here’s what to know about the 54th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which features a new amateur category and financial support from a Norwegian billionaire.

What is the Iditarod?

The Iditarod was conceived by co-founders Dorothy Page and Joe Redington Sr. as a long-distance sled dog race to honor both Alaska’s mushing tradition and the Iditarod Trail. That was a 938-mile (1,510-kilometer) freight and mail route that ran from Seward on Alaska’s southern coast to Nome, on the Bering Sea on Alaska’s western coast.

The start of the race was placed in the Anchorage area to energize residents of the state’s largest city. The late Howard Farley was instrumental in making Nome, about 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) away, the finish line.

Thirty-four mushers started the 1973 race, but only 22 finished.

Dick Wilmarth won it in 20 days. He never raced again. When asked why, he once said, “ Cause I won.”

Since then, mushers have become faster and faster, with winners reaching the finish line a block off the Bering Sea in about 10 days.

It's a small field of competitive mushers

The number of mushers jostling to be the first to Nome has varied over the years, but the retirements of many longtime mushers and the high cost of supplies, such as dog food, have kept the fields small this decade.

The largest field was 96 mushers starting the race in 2008. Over the race's first five decades, about 60 competed on average. Just 33 started the race in 2023 and 2025 — the fewest ever.

This year, 34 mushers are competing, matching the number who started in 1973. They will glide their sleds over 11 miles (18 kilometers) of trails in Anchorage past cheering fans on Saturday. The competitive 1,000-mile (1,610-kilometer) race starts Sunday on a frozen lake about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Anchorage.

A Norwegian billionaire provides financial backing

There actually are 37 mushers in this year’s race, but three are not eligible for the championship or prize money. The Iditarod has started a new Iditarod Expedition Musher Program, which allows people to race in the honorary category.

Participating this year will be Norwegian billionaire Kjell Rokke, who now lives in Switzerland, and Canadian entrepreneur Steve Curtis. Unlike Iditarod contestants, they are allowed outside help.

Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner, who won the 2020 Iditarod and then famously was stuck in Alaska for three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will provide support for Rokke running a dog team. Four-time champion Jeff King will aid Curtis on a snowmachine.

Rokke is providing financial support to the race, including boosting the race purse by $100,000 to a total of $650,000 and providing $170,000 in support for the 17 Alaska Native villages that serve as checkpoints.

Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach said Rokke's donation to the purse should raise the payouts to competitors, with the winner getting about $80,000, well above the nearly $57,000 paid to the top musher last year.

“I believe it is healthy for the sport to evolve and look at new opportunities,” Waerner told The Associated Press in an interview conducted by private message. “The cost of running a competitive kennel has increased significantly over the years, and this initiative is an attempt to explore more sustainable ways to finance both a racing kennel and the race itself — while maintaining high standards for dog care, training, competition, and overall quality.”

Curtis, whose addition was only announced three days before the ceremonial start, was also expected to provide financial support to the Iditarod, but details were not immediately available.

This year's field includes four competitive mushers from other countries: two from Canada, one from Norway and one from Denmark.

Three former champions

Even though Waerner is ineligible to win, the field includes three other former champions all looking for their second title: defending champion Jessie Holmes, 2023 champion Ryan Redington and 2019 winner Pete Kaiser.

Holmes, a former reality television star on National Geographic’s “Life Below Zero,” is trying to join former champions Susan Butcher and Lance Mackey as the only mushers to win their second title the year after winning their first.

Both Butcher and Mackey went on to win four championships apiece. Each died from cancer, Butcher in 2006 and Mackey in 2022.

Redington is the grandson of Joe Redington Sr., the race's co-founder, and Kaiser was the fist Yup'ik to win the race.

Over the mountains and through the snow

Deep snow should greet mushers along much of the 1,000-mile (1,610-kilometer) trek to the state’s western coast.

The route takes mushers over two mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River and treacherous Bering Sea ice before ending on Front Street in Nome.

The finish line is near City Hall, built on the former site of The Dexter, a bar that was owned by Wyatt Earp — he of the Gunfight-at-the-OK-Corral fame — during Nome’s heady gold rush days.

The winner is expected to reach Nome early the week of March 16.