The 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is still on, but teams are no longer headed on a 1,000-mile trail to Nome.
Iditarod officials announced Friday that mushers and their sled dogs will instead travel on a roughly 860-mile loop that starts and ends in Willow. Their turn-around spot will be near the mining ghost town of Flat.
The revised race route is among a list of changes to the event triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, race officials say.
All mushers must also test negative for the coronavirus before the race begins, and they will be tested again along the trail. Face masks and social distancing will be required at checkpoints, according to the race’s plan.
The Iditarod ceremonial start is scheduled for March 6 in Anchorage, with a restart in Willow the next day. Race officials say they’ll have more details on the exact location of the restart and finish soon.
There are 57 teams signed up to compete, including recent champions Pete Kaiser, Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Dallas Seavey.
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Tegan Hanlon is the digital managing editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at thanlon@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8447. Read more about Tegan here.