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Iron Dog on the Chena River
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The boat launch right beside Pike’s Waterfront Lodge is a public access launch onto the Chena River, a river that plays host to many sporting events throughout the year! In the winter, it serves as the finishing point for the Tesoro Iron Dog, a taxing snowmobile race that winds follows part of the Iditarod Trail. The Iron Dog has changed its route many times since the first race in 1984 and the race currently runs from Big Lake up to Nome then to the finish in Fairbanks along the Chena River. Each rider races as a team of two on two snowmobiles for safety reasons, and they have to take three 6-hour breaks between the towns of Nome and Tanana in addition to a 42-hour break in Nome before they turn around and head towards Fairbanks. This course has the riders traverse over 2,000 miles of Alaskan wilderness, making it the world’s longest snowmobile race. Not only do the teams of riders have a long trail, but they have to face freezing temperatures and unforgiving terrain, which makes this race the toughest snowmobile race in the world.
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