Anchorage Daily News

Rush is on to mush in Iditarod

Mushers will start signing up for the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race this morning -- and they better have a fat checking account.

Wasilla musher Marrs is given grant by Iditarod

Young Wasilla musher Wade Marrs has been awarded the Seppala Heritage Grant by the Iditarod Trail Committee.

Ellis, Kornmuller earn sled dog racing medals

Egil Ellis won the International Sled Dog Racing Association's gold medal for the adult sled unlimited speed class, the group announced.

Snowmobilers need to stand up to outlaws, renegades

For anyone who spends much time on the winter trails of Alaska, the fact that a snowmobile slammed into the dog team of Knik 200 musher Rick Townsend last Sunday comes as no surprise.

Snowmachines and sled dogs

With one dog dead in the Iditarod and another seriously injured in the All Alaska Sweepstakes after being hit by a snowmachines, it might appear that conflicts between snowmobiles and dog teams are on the upswing. Probably not.

Mackey dog's nerves damaged

Mackey dog's nerves damaged

Zorro the sled dog was on the mend in Seattle on Monday and emotions were easing in Nome as the dust settled on a nasty accident near the weekend finish of the All Alaska Sweepstakes.

Mackey's dog flown to Seattle for surgery

Mackey's dog flown to Seattle for surgery

Lance Mackey's dog Zorro was being flown to Seattle on Sunday for a test on his spine after the Iditarod champion's sled was rear-ended by a snowmachine during the All Alaska Sweepstakes race.

Mackey dog hurt in snowmachine crash

Seavey's win puts son's wedding plans on hold

NOME -- While Sterling's Mitch Seavey and his dogs pursued Jeff King late Friday night, vying for the All-Alaska Sweepstakes' $100,000 winner-take-all jackpot, another Seavey was in the hunt to be the first to Front Street.

Mackey dog hurt in snowmachine crash

NOME -- An unidentified man driving a snowmachine early Saturday morning crashed into the back of the dog sled driven by two-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey during the All-Alaska Sweepstakes and seriously injured a key animal in his Comeback Kennel.

Seavey's win puts son's wedding plans on hold

Seavey claims $100,000 prize

NOME -- Lance Mackey from Fairbanks might have made Alaska mushing history this year, but it was 2004 Iditarod champ Mitch Seavey who collected the big payola in the winner-take-all All Alaska Sweepstakes.

King, Mackey out front in Sweepstakes Wilson leads Zurich Classic

They call it the All-Alaska Sweepstakes, but the richest sled dog race in history is turning into Iditarod Redux.

Sweepstakes trail conditions are a concern

Hundreds of mushing fans crowded Front Street in Nome on Wednesday morning, forming a human chain that snaked from the Board of Trade Saloon to the frozen beaches of the Bering Sea, to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the historic All-Alaska Sweepstakes.

Keep up with the race

Ellis wins open class in Race of Champions

Open North American champion Egil Ellis of Willow turned in the fastest time each day to claim the open class title in the Tok Race of Champions.

Top mushers eye big payday in historic Sweepstakes race

A few miles south of nowhere, out of sight of even most Alaska media, the world's best dog mushers will gather Wednesday to battle for $100,000 in a winner-take-all reenactment of a Gold Rush-era race around the once-booming but now desolate Seward Peninsula.

Packers QB calls an audible, drives a sled dog team across finish line

FAIRBANKS -- Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers found himself behind a different set of athletes last week -- jumping, barking, impatient sled dogs.

Ellis ties legendary Attla

Egil Ellis stepped into a whole new world Sunday afternoon on a sunny Second Avenue in downtown Fairbanks.

Ellis lets dogs crank it up on Day 2

The Ellis Express is rolling again.

Mackey jumps into the lead

As winter snows wilted in the near-40 degree temperature of the Innoko River country on Thursday afternoon, the dog team of Jeff King -- four-time champion of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race -- eased into the Cripple checkpoint to move into a commanding position in what is shaping up as one of the more topsy-turvy races in years.

Iditarod is no catwalk for rookie DeNure

Zoya DeNure holds a Phillips head screwdriver in Thursday's mid-afternoon sun, thinking it's the right tool to fix her busted-up dog sled, tucked among the log cabins high on the bluffs of the Takotna River.

SPRING MUSHING

Ellis nips Chezik in Eagle River Classic

Willow's Egil Ellis held off Ken Chezik by just two seconds to win the Eagle River Classic on Sunday.

Leaders of the pack

When Lance Mackey strings his team along Fourth Avenue for this morning's Iditarod ceremonial start, a non-timed, 11-mile puppy parade through Anchorage's streets and urban trails, six of his dogs will begin their chase for an unprecedented four-peat.

Trail tales