ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 7 (UPI) -- The 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, began Sunday, but had to be moved 25 miles north because of lack of snow.
A record field of 87 mushers -- a third are rookies -- will head down the trail toward Nome, the Fairbanks News-Miner reported.
In past races, it has taken the top dog teams nine to 10 days to go the 1,100 miles,, although one top racer made the trip once in eight days.
"Being aggressive is great, but you can be too aggressive," said five-time Iditarod champion Rick Swenson of Two Rivers, Alaska. "If you look back, the winner of the Iditarod is rarely the first team to Rainy Pass."
Swenson said mushers can plan, but they have to be able to deal with the unexpected.
"A lot of the young guys haven't seen any bad weather," he said. "They haven't had to break trail in snowshoes for hours. They have laptops and are crunching numbers. It works if everything goes well, but then you get on the trail."
