"Aliy Zirkle"

Zirkle was flown to the Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage and has since been released from the hospital.

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

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.

Bethel musher Pete Kaiser’s team of eight dogs crossed under the Burled Arch in Nome at 3:39 a.m. Wednesday. Kaiser is the first Iditarod champion with Yupik roots.

With 52 dog teams slated to run the 1,000-mile race to Nome, it’s the smallest field of mushers starting an Iditarod in decades. But that doesn’t mean the competition is any easier.

The Iditarod Trail Committee’s Board of Directors wants to set up a kennel management program, a move aiming to set up new guidelines and counteract negative press directed at mushing’s most high-profile event.

Iditarod veteran Aliy Zirkle has had to upend her race plans and declare a 24-hour rest in Galena because of sick dogs. After pulling off the Yukon River, Zirkle had several vets checking out her team. She said the leaders started looking ill Tuesday afternoon.

As mushers speed toward Nome, a controversial new Iditarod rule is in effect for the first time. After a vote by the board of directors last fall, mushers are now allowed to carry two-way communication devices, like cell and satellite phones. Many competitors both young and old think the presence of technology goes against the spirit of the race.

Multiple dogs were injured Saturday morning after a snowmobiler repeatedly drove towards Aliy Zirkle, Jeff King and their teams. Nash, a 3-year-old male on King’s team, was killed in the attack.

A man on a snow machine repeatedly tried to harm Iditarod veterans Aliy Zirkle, Jeff King and their teams outside of Nulato killing one dog and injuring several others early Saturday morning.