Saturday March 1st is the ceremonial start to the annual Iditarod sled-dog race in Anchorage, Alaska.  The race officially begins on Sunday 50 miles further down the road in Willow. Technically started in 1973 after a couple of previous trys, the Iditarod is based on a world famous race that happened in 1926 when dog-sled teams raced diphtheria serum to the children in Nome, Alaska. Back then, it was the only way to get the medicine to Nome. The whole world listened by radio and telegraph transmissions fed the newspapers.  The leader of that dog sled team was a dog named Balto. A statue of Balto still stands in Central Park, New York City and of course, Disney has made a couple of movies about Balto. You can also read Balto’s story here on our website.  The Iditarod is a great adventure and the dogs are very special ones.