Teams ready to hit the trail in the 'Last Great Race'

WASILLA — The 2024 Iditarod kicks off during the first weekend of March.

"The Last Great Race" draws dedicated mushers and their faithful furry companions from across Alaska and beyond to the world's most iconic sled dog race each year.

The annual Musher Meet and Greet starts at 4 p.m. Thursday, February 9, and the annual Mushers Banquet starts at 6 p.m. the same day. Both events will take place at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage.

The Iditarod Ceremonial Start begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 2 in downtown Anchorage.

The Official Restart in Willow takes places at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 3.

Mushers will embark on journey spanning nearly 1,000 miles across the Alaskan wilderness to the finish line in Nome. The race follows the Northern Route on even years and the Southern Route on odd years.

According to the Iditarod website, this year's roster includes over three dozen mushers as of Thursday, Feb. 22.

Ryan Redington, veteran musher and great grandson of Iditarod co-founder Joe Redington, won the 2023 Iditarod. According to Iditarod officials, Ryan crossed the finish line in 8 days, 21 hours, 12 minutes and 58 seconds. It was his first Iditarod victory.

Iditarod fans have an extra way of engaging in this year's race. The Iditarod Trail Committee relaunched of a fundraising effort called the Iditarod Trifecta.

According to a press release, the Trifecta was first introduced shortly before the 2020 Iditarod season and the first winner was announced March 23 that year.

The 2020 Iditarod started before Alaska's first coronavirus case was reported March 13. The Iditarod responded by relocating and eliminating checkpoints. All Trifecta events were postponed in light of the pandemic.

Now, mushing fans from across the globe can once again participate in the Iditarod Trifecta, a game of chance and skill with the chance to win a cash purse.

Trifecta players can guess the Iditarod winner, their finish time, and the number of dogs they cross the finish line with each entry purchased.

Players can put their mushing knowledge to the test and purchase as many entries as they desire.

Entries are $10 fee guess and they're open through midnight on March 1, 2024

The final Iditarod Trifecta purse amount is determined by the number of entries.

Once a winner is named, the purse is divided up with 50 percent going towards race operations and 50 percent going towards the winning guess.

The winning entry will be announced through rafflebox.us/raffle/trifecta and the Iditarod’s official Facebook page March, 17.

If multiple entries have chosen the same musher, then the winning times will be reviewed to determine the closest guess.

If there are still tied guesses, then the tied entries are reviewed for the guess of how many dogs the winner finished with. If there's still multiple winners, then the prize will be split evenly among the winners.

For more information about the 2024 Iditarod, visit iditarod.com

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com