This year’s Iditarod race is underway. While leaders set a record-breaking pace for the first 200 miles, the warmer-than-usual temperatures found several top teams battling illness and dehydration as they tried to keep up.
Safety is always an issue in the Iditarod, but last year, for the first time, no dogs died during the race. USA Today looks at what mushers and the race’s organizers are doing to safeguard the dogs’ health.
Update: An Alaska blogger shares the history of the Iditarod, which commemorates a desperate effort to prevent an epidemic.
