The 2008 Iditarod featured 95 mushers and dog teams. The 36th Annual

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod (), is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at lea ...

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 Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. The Iditarod course extends from just north of

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

Nome Nome may refer to: Country subdivision * Nome (Egypt), an administrative division within ancient Egypt * Nome (Greece), the administrative division immediately below the ''peripheries of Greece'' (, pl. ) Places United States * Nome, Alaska ...

. The majority of competing teams hailed from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, while notable other teams from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

were in the running. The competition was one of the closest in recent memory, with defending champion Lance Mackey 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 The Yukon Quest, formally the Yukon Quest 1,000-mile International Sled Dog Race, is a sled dog race scheduled every February since 1984 between Fairbanks, Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon, Whitehorse, Yukon, switching directions ...

, 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 Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

. This dog died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. 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
The official site

Blogging the Iditarod Trail

Live GPS Tracking of Race

David Weekly's Creative Commons licensed Iditarod 2008 Pictures on Flickr

Iditarod The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod (), is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at leas ...

Iditarod March 2008 sports events in the United States