The winner of [the third] race was John (Iron Man) Johnson, with an (as yet) unbroken record time of 74 hours, 14 minutes, and 37 seconds.

The owner was a Scotsman named Charles Fox Maule Ramsay who had taken notice of the Siberian Huskies that had been used by a team in the 1909 race.

Siberian Huskies were further popularized in 1925 when the city of Nome was stricken with a diphtheria epidemic and medical supplies were urgently needed.

In what came to be known as the "Great Race of Mercy", 20 mushers and 150 sled dogs transported the diphtheria antitoxin 674 miles across Alaska in a record-breaking five and a half days.

Sprint races frequently are two or three-day events with heats run on successive days with the same dogs over the same course.

This simplifies some logistical considerations such as that of getting many teams of excited sled dogs to the starting line simultaneously.

For example, the ISDRA sanctioning rules specify that all hazards must be avoided, distances must be reported correctly, and the trail must be clearly described to the competitors.

Begun in 1917 and heavily promoted by Union Pacific Railroad, it was on par with the Kentucky Derby and with the Indianapolis 500 in terms of interest and press coverage in the early part of the 20th century and was considered to be the world championship dogsled race.

The race consists of fierce mountains, frozen rivers, thick forests, and desolate tundras.

[11] Although each musher has different strategies, each team must have certain pieces of equipment, such as an arctic parka, an ax, snowshoes, and boots for each dog's feet to protect against cutting ice and hard packed snow injuries.

Racing sleddogs wear individual harnesses to which "tuglines" are snapped, pulling from a loop near the root of the tail.

It is unusual ever to see more than 22 dogs hooked at once in a racing team, and that number is usually seen only on the first day of the most highly competitive sprint events.