The race took him through nearly 1,609 kilometers (1,000 miles) of arid tundra and dense spruce forests, through soaring gorges and up snow-capped mountains.
And on Tuesday, Alaska native Ryan Redington became the winner of the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the most prestigious dog sledding tournament in the United States.
This year’s win, however, has special meaning for Redington who led a pack of six dogs to victory in Nome, Alaska. Aged 40, he is the grandson of Joe Redington Sr, nicknamed the “father of the Iditarod”.
The elder Redington, who died in 1999, was a seasoned dog musher who helped champion sled dog racing at a time when the tradition was threatened by the growing use of snowmobiles.
He and businesswoman Dorothy Page started the first Iditarod race in 1973.
Tuesday’s winner is expected to take home an estimated $50,000 purse, out of a total of $500,000 in prize money for the entire tournament.
The top three in this year’s race were all Alaska Natives. In the final sprint, Dena’ina Athabascan luger Richie Diehl and 2019 winner Pete Kaiser, who is Yup’ik, joined Redington at the front of the field. Redington himself is Inupiat.
He becomes only the sixth Alaskan native to win the race.
The competitors, however, faced some unexpected obstacles while preparing for their run from Anchorage to Nome. Most years there are an average of 63 runners in the tournament, but this year only 33 dog mushers entered, a record.
Some competitors have cited rising inflation as the cause, as dog sledding is already an expensive hobby.
And on the trail itself, competitors encountered abnormally hot temperatures, with some Alaskan communities reporting record-breaking heat. “There are almost no places below zero along the route,” National Weather Service climatologist Brian Brettschneider told The Associated Press last week.
Not only did the scorching temperatures increase the prospect of sledding through mud and slush, but they were also taxing on dogs, who could overheat.
But at 12:15 p.m. Alaska time (2000 GMT), Redington crossed the finish line, fulfilling a childhood dream. It was his 16th participation in the race.
“It took a lot of work, a lot of patience,” he said. “And we failed many times, you know? But we held our heads high and stayed true to the dream.
