Is This The Toughest Race On Earth?

The Iditarod Trail Invitational may just the toughest race on earth. RW has the Inside story on an epic feat of endurance in an unforgiving wilderness

The Iditarod Trail Invitational: 1,000 miles across Alaska’s wilderness

THE HARDEST ULTRAMARATHON you’ve never heard of – the Iditarod Trail Invitational – takes competitors through roughly 1,000 miles of the Alaskan wilderness in the deep freeze of February and March each year. Since 2000, only 15 runners have completed the route between Wasilla and Nome, in the south of the vast state, and of the five or so participants who line up each year, fewer than half finish. Just to be allowed to toe the start line, all entrants must first complete the ‘short’ 350-mile version to prove their winter survival savvy. Dragging sleds weighing 15-25kg, competitors use GPS, maps and advice from locals to follow the sporadically marked Iditarod Trail, the same trail followed by mushers racing with packs of dogs when they start their race a week later. They cross mountain ranges, black pine forests, the frozen Yukon River and iced-over stretches of the Bering Sea, restocking food supplies along the way in isolated villages or from three ski-plane drops. The cut-off time is 30 days.

Racers must hit 20 designated checkpoints, but can go off-trail to shave miles between those points. Quitting mid-journey requires making your way to the nearest village – which can be up to 100 miles away – and grasping your credit card in frozen fingers to pay for a bush-plane ride back to Anchorage, the state’s largest city. This year’s race starts on February 25. Its participants will cover 35-40 miles over 12-14 hours each day and finish in roughly 25 days. ‘The type of people who enter – if you tell them something is really, really hard, they’ll want to do it even more,’ says race co-director Bill Merchant. ‘The Iditarod Trail can be the most beautiful place in the world or the most intimidating.’

LONG WAY HOME NOME (pop. 3,777)

Mile 1,000 The finish The course ends under a wooden arch in front of a church and trading post on one of Nome’s main drags, the same finish line as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Typically, the last musher arrives about a week before the first ultramarathoner, which means the area is usually deserted. ‘The finish is fitting because it’s such a solitary race,’ says Jegerlehner. ‘It’s about you and your journey – and that’s it.’

WHITE MOUNTAIN (pop. 209)

Mile 898 Rest stop For eight years, resident Joanna Wassillie has offered moose soup, roasted caribou and her famous sticky rolls to competitors. She’s got a spare bed for them, too. ‘They’re doing something awesome,’ she says, ‘something I would have liked to have done.’

BLOWHOLE ALLEY

Miles 898-953 Most dangerous stretch In perfect conditions, racers see the frozen Bering Sea to their left, faraway hills to their right and flat, exposed trail straight ahead. But this area is notorious for ‘blowholes,’ unpredictable blizzards with winds that can reach 75 mph for hours, creating whiteout conditions that obscure trail markers and threaten to blow competitors towards thin ice. The storms have such a defined edge that locals claim you can stick your hand in the billowing snow while the rest of your body remains in calm conditions. Three cabins along the route provide shelter if blowholes flare up (and if you can find them).

ELIM (pop. 339)

Mile 852 Eskimo village Racers arrive here via stable ice close to shore. Tim Hewitt is the only racer to have cut across the bay, which shaved 40 miles. ‘You’re on unmarked sea ice; it can separate and move out to sea or you could fall through it,’ says Merchant.

OPHIR TO RUBY (pop. 178)

Miles 425-545 Least-supported stretch From the abandoned gold-rush town of Ophir, it takes about three days to cross this lonely stretch of hills and black spruce forest that’s known for high winds and temperatures that often dip to - 40C. With no protection, the wind can feel like ‘a knife just stabbing you repeatedly’, says Jegerlehner.

YUKON RIVER

Miles 545- 629 Most mentally tough stretch More than a mile wide at spots, the river’s vastness plays tricks on the mind. Ground blizzards can limit visibility from the chest down.

MCGRATH (pop. 302)

Mile 350 Finish point for 350-mile cyclists and racers Here, the field shrinks by 80 per cent. Those bound for Nome quickly refuel and leave, an agonising task when they’re surrounded by revelling finishers, says Jegerlehner. ‘Leaving Mcgrath was the scariest thing I have ever done,’ he says. ‘The hardest section is ahead.’

RAINY PASS

Miles 165-188 Steepest ascent Racers climb the Happy River Steps, a series of steep hills, most at nearly a 20 per cent gradient. The descent parallels a (mostly) frozen stream that must be crossed. At least one racer has sunk waistdeep into the frigid water.

FINGER LAKE

Mile 130 Resupply point and short-race finish line A ski plane drops sacks of food here in the first of three airdrops. Racers supply their own rations, posting race directors three 4.5kg packages for the airdrops plus others bound for eight villages along the route.

KNIK BAR, WASILLA (pop. 8,704)

Mile 0 Starting line After a countdown outside Knik Bar, runners and cyclists (there’s a Fatback bike race alongside the footrace) in the 1,000-, the 350- or the 130-mile events head north. The sled-dog race starts a week later. Mushers occasionally cross paths with runners; encounters are usually friendly, though collisions do occur. ‘A team of 12 dogs won’t notice if they drag you along for quite a distance,’ says Beat Jegerlehner, a three-time ITI finisher.