Word: race
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...both a popular sport and a vital necessity. In the winter of 1925, an epidemic of diphtheria ravaged Nome, which lacked the medicine to combat it. The nearest supply of antitoxin serum was in Anchorage-nearly 700 frozen miles away. In what has become known as the "Great Race of Mercy," 20 mushers and some 150 dogs teamed up to deliver the drugs in under six days, quelling an epidemic that threatened to decimate the town. Balto, the lead dog on the final stretch of the relay, earned national acclaim - and a statue that still stands in New York City...
...emergence of air travel blunted the Trail's importance in subsequent decades. But in the 1960s, a Wasilla resident named Dorothy Page moved to memorialize its importance by staging a race during Alaska's centennial celebrations in 1967. The inaugural title was won by Isaac Okleasik, who pocketed $25,000 for speeding through the abbreviated 27-mile jaunt. After a one-year hiatus due to lack of snow, the modest second running in 1969 drew just 12 mushers and paid out a mere $1,000. (See TIME's Top 10 Endurance Competitions...
Success in the race has minted heroes out of many ordinary Alaskans. Among the giants of the Iditarod are five-time champion Rick Swenson; families like the Redington, Seavey and Mackey clans, who have captured multiple championships and together have placed an entrant in every race since the event's inception; and four-time winners Susan Butcher and Martin Buser, who owns the record for the event's fastest recorded time (8 days, 22 hrs. and 46 mins). To prepare for the rigors of the journey, mushers spend months prepping their dogs, who are subject to drug screenings and tracked...
...race has predictably drawn fire from animal rights groups like PETA and the ASPCA, attention that only worsened after veteran musher Ramy Brooks was given a two-year ban in 2007 for abusing his dogs. But most Alaskans steadfastly defend the event as a celebration of the state's heritage. This year, the greatest threats posed to the race come from other directions. A heavy snow recently blanketed parts of the Alaska, burying the trail in deep drifts and forcing mushers to break out their snowshoes. And just as it has in the Lower 48 states, the economy has cast...
...name Howard Dean as Secretary of Health and Human Services disappoints Howard Dean • graying of • medical marijuana distributors will not be raided by federal government headed by • poll reveals that "African Americans are significantly less likely than whites" to be amused by jokes about race of • predecessor of continues to be properly dissed...