CEREMONIAL START OF IDITAROD 2026 Sat. March 7th

 Ceremonial Start of Iditarod 2026 Sat. March 7th:

SNOW SNOW and more SNOW in ANCHORAGE. It's what an Iditarod Start should look like!!

There are 37 Mushers. Low number due to the high cost of keeping a kennel. There have been up to 80 mushers and as few as 40. Last year only 22 finished in NOME. This year there are:

37 mushers, 23 Veterans, 14 rookies                                                                                                                 4 past champs-JESSIE HOLMES (winner last year), RYAN REDINGTON, PETE KAISER and      THOMAS WAERNER.

They are doing the NORTHERN ROUTE from WILLOW to NOME--1,000 miles.

IDITAROD is the "Super Bowl" of dog mushing Alaska's state sport.                                                                  Today in ANCHORAGE it is 19 degrees and SNOWING!!                                                                                 Alaska is 4 hours behind New York.

The event begins with the honorary musher, MARY SHIELDS ,who was the first woman to finish the IDITAROD in 1974. She died in 2025. Her sled will be driven by 4 X JR. IDITAROD CHAMP EMILY ROBINSON, who recently won the 2026 JR. IDITAROD. 

Below a drone view of 4th Ave in ANCHORAGE. Look carefully to see the START banner for the IDITAROD this year. 

Each of the teams will start 3 minutes apart and mush 11 miles thru the city. You can see many people "tailgating" on the trail cheering on the mushers.