The 2015 Iditarod winner will take home the race’s biggest payday ever — $70,000.
Announcing the winning purse for the 2015 race—the largest payout for the first musher to Nome in the history of the race—the Iditarod Trail Committee notes the sum is $19,600 more than the $50,400 paid out to Dallas Seavey when he was first under the burled arch as the winner of last year’s Iditarod.
The extra money won’t only go to the top winners, however; second through fifth place will also see an increase over last year’s payouts. The second-place musher will take home $58,600, a jump over last year’s second-place take of $47,600. The third place finisher will net $53,900, just $100 shy of last year’s first-place prize.
All told, race officials say an extra $50,000 will be spread among the top five finishers, with $700,100 set to be paid out among the top 30 mushers. Mushers finishing behind 30th place each receive $1,049, a symbolic amount based on the race’s “official” – but often fluctuating – trail length.
So far 78 mushers signed up for the 2015 Iditarod, which starts in downtown Anchorage Saturday, Mar. 7.
Matthew Smith is a reporter at KNOM in Nome.
