The race is meant to commemorate and celebrate the history of Alaska and the critical part that sled dogs have played in the settlement of the state.

To many casual onlookers, the Iditarod is a weird curiosity. The famed sled-dog race, which begins this year on March 1, tasks mushers with trekking roughly 1,000 miles across the snowy Alaskan wilderness with a team of about 12 dogs,

In this March 3, 2018, file photo, Eagle River, Alaska musher Tom Schonberger's lead dogs trot along Fourth Avenue during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska.