The part of world’s most famous sled dog race, the Iditarod, started March 2 in Willow, Alaska, 50 miles north of Anchorage. The race teams leave the big crowds behind for remote terrain shared mostly with their dogs on a grueling 1,000-mile trek through unpredictable wilderness to the old gold rush town of Nome. Whoever reaches Nome first wins a new truck and $50,400. The next 29 mushers to cross the finish line will split rest of the $600,000 purse.
Here’s a gallery of pictures spanning more than 30 years of “The Last Great Race.”