The Last Great Race on Earth  You can’t compare it to any other competitive event in the world; over 1150 miles of the roughest, most beautiful terrain Mother Nature has to offer. She throws Throwing jagged mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forest, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coast at the mushers and their dog teams. Add to that temperatures far below zero, winds that can cause a complete loss of visibility, the hazards of overflowing hazards, long hours of darkness and treacherous climbs, and you have the Iditarod. A race extraordinaire, a race only possible in Alaska. From Anchorage to Nome on the western Bering Sea coast, each team of 12 to 16 dogs and their musher cover over 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days.
 
It has been called the “Last Great Race on Earth” and it has won worldwide acclaim and interest. German, Spanish, British, Japanese and American film crews have covered the event. Journalists from outdoor magazines, and adventure magazines, newspapers and wire services flock to Anchorage and Nome to record the excitement.  Mushers enter from all walks of life, each with their own reasons for going the distance. It’s a race organized and run primarily by thousands of volunteers.
 
The Millennium Alaskan Hotel: Proud to be the Official Iditarod Race Headquarters  
From prior to the race start until the final musher passes under the arch in Nome, The Iditarod Trail Committee sets up its base of operations within the hotel from start to finish. This is the 23rd consecutive year that the Millennium Alaskan Hotel has been Race Headquarters.
 
First to the Yukon Award  The Millennium Alaskan Hotel will present the “First to the Yukon Award,” presented annually to the first Iditarod dog musher to reach the Yukon River, a defining point in the famous sled dog race.  The musher will be rewarded with a seven-course feast prepared on camp stoves by the Millennium's chef along with $3,500 served on an engraved Alaskan gold pan. This year the dinner and award will be presented in the small village of Ruby, 600 miles from the race’s start in Anchorage. The rustic setting at the checkpoint is transformed, as a formal table, carefully set with fresh flowers, crystal, fine china and a silver candelabra.  A carefully selected fine wine is served with each plate.  Upon completion of their feast, the musher will be presented with the “after dinner mint,” $3,500 in crisp one-dollar bills.