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News Release

Alaska Begins Countdown to “The Last Great Race”: Alaska’s Frontier Cities and History Found Along the Trail

Anchorage, Alaska – Feb. 21, 2008 – In just nine days, the world’s toughest human and canine athletes will begin their epic journey in the most demanding race on the planet during the 36th Annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race®, beginning Mar. 1, 2008, at 10 a.m. AST.

The annual 1,100-mile trek across the vast expanse of the largest state in the Union contains more real-life drama than any Hollywood screenplay could ever hope to achieve.

The stakes are high. The competition is fierce. The terrain and weather are unforgiving.

The 96 starting teams will brave treacherous mountains, deadly river overflow, hurricane force winds, and bone-chilling cold before the race is through and a new champion is crowned under the burled arch in Nome, Alaska.

The Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) will trace the history of Alaska along the trail by providing Checkpoint Profiles-of-the-Day and Iditarod Facts-of-the-Day prior to the race start of March 1, 2008. During the race, ACVB will feature a Dog-of-the-Day to highlight the best canine athletes in the world.

For more about the Iditarod and about Anchorage, Alaska’s Big Wild Life™, explore www.Anchorage.net/Iditarod.

Iditarod Checkpoint Profile-of-the-Day – Anchorage: Iditarod’s Big Wild Start

Anchorage, Alaska, is home to the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race®. Every year, thousands of spectators line Anchorage’s Fourth Avenue to witness Alaska’s state sport in action. However, Alaska’s largest city (population approx. 277,000) has a vibrant history with the sled dog spanning from rich, indigenous roots to the endurance sport of modern-day racing. As part of the traditional homeland of the Dena’ina (Tanaina) Athabascan of Southcentral Alaska, Anchorage has been home to hundreds of miles of sled dog trails for thousands of years. The Dena’ina’s traditional lands range from Seldovia, on the Kenai Penisula in the south, to Chickaloon in the northeast, Lime Village in the northwest and Pedro Bay in the southwest. Trade formed the basis of ancient Athabascan life, with men forming key trading partnerships as a means of achieveing diplomacey as well as exchange. Sleds, with and without dogs, were used in winter months to move goods over the substantial territorial range.

In 1784, Russian explorers, and their Siberian huskies, established themselves in southern Alaska, but English explorer Captain James Cook is credited with first exploring and describing the Anchorage area in 1778, during his third voyage of discovery.

In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson authorized funds for the construction of the Alaska Railroad. Ship Creek Landing, in Anchorage, was selected as the headquarters of this effort. Soon a “Tent City” sprang up at the mouth of Ship Creek, and the population quickly swelled to more than 2,000.

Would-be entrepreneurs flocked to this bustling frontier town, bringing with them the building blocks of a metropolis.

Although the area had been known by various names, the U.S. Post Office Department formalized the use of the name “Anchorage,” and, despite some protests, the name stuck. Anchorage was incorporated on November 23,1920, and Alaska became a state in 1959.

Iditarod Fact-of-the-Day – Commemorating the “Race of Mercy”

The Iditarod Trail, now a National Historic Trail, had its beginnings as a mail and supply route from the coastal towns to Interior Alaska mining camps and Western Alaska communities. Mail and supplies went up the line; precious gold came down – all via dog sled.

In 1925, part of the Iditarod Trail became a life saving highway for epidemic-stricken Nome. Diphtheria threatened the small northern city, and Nome residents desperately needed the diphtheria antitoxin to stave off the deadly disease. Heroic mushers, like Leonhard Seppala, and their faithful hard-driving dogs, like Togo and Balto, braved the harsh Alaska winter, running the serum, relay-style, up the coast in time to save the city.

The Iditarod is a commemoration of this memorable event, originally known as the “Race of Mercy.”

The first Iditarod began on March 3, 1973, and ended 20 days, 49 minutes, 41 seconds later, when Dick Wilmarth of Red Devil, Alaska, arrived in Nome. Wilmarth won $12,000.

In 2007, Lance Mackey, of Fairbanks, Alaska, won the Iditarod in nine days, five hours, eight minutes, 41 seconds, taking home $69,000 in prize money.

The Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau’s mission is to attract and serve visitors to the Municipality of Anchorage. ACVB’s marketing functions are funded by one-third of the bed tax collected by the lodging association. One-third goes to the Municipality’s general fund and one-third goes to the Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center construction project. ACVB receives no state or federal funds. For more information, explore www.Anchorage.net.

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Media Contacts:

Shelly Wozniak
Public Relations Manager
Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau
swozinak@anchorage.net
(907) 257-2331 direct
(907) 250-5285 cell
(907) 222-3752 fax

Nance Larsen, APR
Vice President, Communications & Marketing Programs
Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau
pr@anchorage.net
(907) 276-4118
Explore www.Anchorage.net