The 2008 Iditarod featured 95
mushers and
dog teams. The 36th Annual
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ceremonially began on Saturday March 1, 2008. The competitive start was the next day.
The 1,161 mile (1,868 km)
dogsled race ran through the American state of
Alaska. The Iditarod course extends from just north of
Anchorage
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
to
Nome.
The majority of competing teams hailed from the
United States, while notable other teams from
Norway,
Germany, and
Canada were in the running.
The competition was one of the closest in recent memory, with defending champion
Lance Mackey
Lance Mackey (June 2, 1970 – September 7, 2022) was an American dog musher and dog sled racer from Fairbanks, Alaska. Mackey was a four-time winner of both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Early life
Lance was born o ...
and four-time winner
Jeff King mushing neck-and-neck for much of the race. Ultimately, the race was won by Mackey, who reached the final checkpoint at 2:46 AM on March 12. Notably, this is the second year in a row Mackey has finished first in both the Iditarod and the
Yukon Quest, a feat once thought impossible.
Canine fatalities
Three dogs perished in Iditarod 36. The first was a 7-year-old male on the team of John Stetson, from
Duluth, Minnesota. This dog died of
pneumonia. The second dog, 3-year-old Lorne was a member of Jennifer Freking's team. Lorne was killed when a snowmobiler crashed into Freking's team. The third death was 4-year-old Cargo, a member of Ed Iten's team, in which the cause of death is unknown.
References
External links
{{commons category, 2008 Iditarod
The official siteBlogging the Iditarod TrailLive GPS Tracking of RaceDavid Weekly's Creative Commons licensed Iditarod 2008 Pictures on Flickr
Iditarod
Iditarod
March 2008 sports events in the United States