The Iditarod

The Iditarod starts this Saturday at 10am. There's a ceremonial start in Anchorage, which runs about 20 miles through town. Then, they pack the dogs into their trucks and restart up in Willow. (There didn't used to be a need for a restart, but the Glenn Highway has gotten so much busier these days. They can't close it for the race, the dogsleds can't share the road with cars, and apparently there's no other trail north from Anchorage that wouldn't have to cross open water.)

I was frustrated by the lack of information on the route through Anchorage. Most people must watch the start downtown, but I expect that'll probably be VERY crowded. Lacking a map of the route, I used the route information on this page to put one together on Google Maps. In some places it's pretty iffy, especially at the end, but it's probably pretty accurate in the places that spectators can reach. If you'd like to see the original, I can add you as a "collaborator" on that map. Otherwise, here are some screenshots (3 in "terrain" view, then repeated in "aerial" view).

If you want to read more about the Iditarod, the official site has info on the 1,100-mile route, as well as the history of the race (search for "serum").