Race will start in Fairbanks, Alaska instead of Anchorage for a second time in three years – and for the first time, mushers may carry satellites or cellphones

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

For the second time in three years, the Ititarod dog race will have its official start in Fairbanks, Alaska instead of Anchorage, due to insufficiently wintry conditions.

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The ceremonial start of the race was still staged in the state’s largest city on Saturday, where trucks had brought in snow overnight.

A few hundred miles north, the Alaska Range – a mountain span that includes Denali – has little snow and open-water conditions. That prompted race officials to move the competition’s official start.

There was, however, good news for mushers and dogs making the journey to Nome, nearly 1,000 miles along Alaska’s frozen Bering Sea coast.

“There’s lots of snow on the trail,” race marshal Mark Nordman said after surveying the route late last week. “Lots of deep snow. And when we’re on the [Yukon] river, it’s a freeway.”

The sound of howling dogs filled downtown Anchorage for the ceremonial start, as mushers from around the world gathered. About 2,000 dogs belonging to 72 mushers were waiting their turn to hit the trail.

The ceremonial start is a fan-friendly event. Spectators can pet dogs, mingle with mushers and grab an autograph or two.

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Racers then leave the downtown area every two minutes in a staggered start with an Iditarider – people who won auctions for a prime spot in a competitor’s sled – for an 11-mile course on city trails and streets. The official start of the race is on Monday.

Dallas Seavey, who turned 30 on Saturday, has won four of the last five Iditarods and is looking to join Rick Swenson as the race’s only five-time winner. Five other mushers have four wins, but no one in the past 25 years has captured the elusive fifth title.

A rule change this year will allow mushers to carry satellite or cellphones for the first time. The rule change was prompted after a drunken man on a snowmobile last year charged at two teams in separate attacks, killing one dog and injuring others.