Sports

Hundreds of sled dogs and 46 mushers left the Iditarod starting line at the Deshka Landing boat launch on a sunny and clear afternoon.

There’s required testing and face masks, plus a shorter trail and a smaller group of mushers signed up to compete.

On Saturday, Israel Hale became the first disabled competitor to ever finish the full 2,600-mile Iron Dog race.

In the game’s 50-year history, Alaska has hosted the event six times, most recently in Fairbanks in 2014.

Bears tend to build their dens at an elevation of about 2,000 to 3,000 feet, usually where the angle of the slope is around 35 to 45 degrees.

The 33-year-old musher said he’s returning to the Iditarod with a new perspective, and ready to race.

Kaduce’s win comes after a substantial rule change requiring longer-than-usual rests at checkpoints to boost dog health.

Skagway students have been learning traditional Alaska Native games in preparation for the Junior Native Youth Olympics. The town’s new Native Youth Olympics club is part of a wider effort to develop more Native sports programs throughout Southeast Alaska.

Diehl has now won both the Bogus Creek 150 and Kuskokwim 300 in the same year, something that has never been done before.

Aliy Zirkle has finished either the Iditarod or Yukon Quest every year since 1998. She won the Yukon Quest in 2000. At the Iditarod, she finished second three times in a row.