The world's most famous sled dog race is longer than ever. Here's a look at Iditarod, by the numbers

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The world’s most famous sled dog race is longer this year than ever before.

Thanks to a lack of snow, this year's edition of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race needed a new route across the Alaska wilderness. The course change adds more than 100 miles (161 kilometers), so teams of dogs will have to pull their mushers over 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers) to the finish line.

The number of mushers participating this year is down from previous years, and tied with 2023 as an all-time low. This year is the fourth time the starting line has moved to Fairbanks due to barren ground near Anchorage or elsewhere on the trail.

Here's a by-the-numbers look at the grueling event, which begins with a ceremonial start in Anchorage on Saturday, followed by the start of the race in Fairbanks on Monday. The winning team is expected in the Gold Rush town of Nome about 10 days later.

Only 33 mushers will start this year’s race, tied with 2023 for the smallest field ever.

The largest field ever was 96 mushers in 2008.

This drop in participants raises concerns about the viability of the iconic race, which has suffered from inflation, pressure from animal rights groups and climate change.

The first Iditarod was held in 1973, making this year’s race the 53rd.

The inaugural event had 34 mushers start the race, only one more than the smallest fields in 2023 and 2025.

Sled dogs were once the main form of transportation in Alaska. Dog teams hauled freight, brought people to other villages and even provided transport for the Alaska Territorial Guard, or the famed Eskimo Scouts, which patrolled the western coast against Japanese attack in World War II.

Dog teams were supplanted by snowmobiles in the 1960s, but interest was growing to honor Alaska’s traditions as the 100th anniversary of its purchase by the U.S. from Russia neared in 1967.

Dorothy Page and Joe Redington Sr. conceived the idea of a long-distance race to honor the Iditarod Trail, a freight-and-mail route from Seward to Nome, which eventually led to the first Iditarod.

This year the Iditarod will honor another famous route: the 1925 Serum Run, in which sled dog teams saved Nome from a deadly diphtheria outbreak.

That’s a lot of dogs.

Each musher must have at least a dozen dogs to start the race, but throughout the course, they can have up to 16, meaning there could be up to 528 canines on the trail.

It won’t be that crowded in Anchorage, however. Mushers are limited to eight dogs each for the ceremonial start, or a total of 264 tail-waggers.

The Iditarod is typically called a 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) race as mushers and their dogs battle the most challenging elements an Alaska winter can throw at them.

However, that mileage has always been approximate.

Organizers alternate between different routes most years to allow more villages in rural Alaska to serve as checkpoints. In odd-numbered years, the race goes 998 miles (1,606 kilometers) along the southern route. In even-numbered years, the race’s mileage drops to 975 miles (1,569 kilometers) on the northern route.

This year's event will set a record for the longest Iditarod: 1,128 miles (1,815 kilometers). Organizers had to reroute competitors around a stretch of trail without snow.

A lack of snow this winter in the state's largest city also has curtailed the ceremonial start. Usually the teams course through 11 miles (17.7 kilometers) of Anchorage streets. This year, it's less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers).

The Iditarod’s four-legged athletes will go through a total of about 100,000 booties during the race. They help protect the dogs’ paws from snow, ice and frigid temperatures.

Mushers pack supplies they will need during the race but can't carry. The supplies, including about 180,000 pounds (81,647 kilograms) of dog food, are delivered to checkpoints ahead of the race.

Riley Dyche (17), of Big Lake, Alaska, turns the corner onto Cordova Street during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Charmayne Morrison (30), of Bozeman, Mont., turns the corner onto Cordova Street during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Mitch Seavey (32), of Seward, Alaska, mushes during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Emily Ford (34), of Duluth, Minn., mushes down Cordova Street during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Quince Mountain (27), of Mountain, Wis., turns the corner onto Cordova Street during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Sled dogs on the team of Michelle Phillips (14), of Canada, run during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Sled dogs mushed by Jeff Deeter (33), of Fairbanks, Alaska, run during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Matthew Failor (31), of Willow, Alaska, trims a sled dog's nails before the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Stephanie Jones, of San Diego, Calif., visits with sled dogs on the team of Justin Olnes (29), of Fairbanks, Alaska, before riding with Olnes in the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

A sled dog on the team of Emily Ford (34), of Duluth, Minnesota, looks out of a dog box before the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Riley Dyche (17), of Big Lake, Alaska, kisses his sled dog Redoubt while carrying him back to the truck before the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Sydnie Bahl (8), of Wasilla, Alaska, examines the leg of a sled dog after putting a bootie on its paw before the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Samantha LaLonde (3), of Farmington Hills, Michigan, mushes during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

FILE - Dallas Seavey celebrates his win in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, March 12, 2024, in Nome, Alaska. (Anne Raup/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)

FILE - Mats Pettersson, from Sweden, makes the corner onto Cordova Street during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ceremonial start in Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 2, 2024. (Bob Hallinen/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)

FILE - Ghost, left, and Sven, two leaders on the team of Ryan Redington, the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog champion, stand ahead of a training run, Feb. 26, 2024, in Knik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

FILE - Matt Hall's team crosses the Northern Lights bridge near Goose Lake during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Saturday, March 2, 2024. (Anne Raup/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

FILE - A musher leaves downtown during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race on Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Anchorage, Alaska. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)

FILE - Dogs in Riley Dyche's team mush along Cordova Street during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race on Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Anchorage, Alaska. (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)

For the first time in 20 years, rain is expected to intrude on the Rose Parade in Southern California, a venerable New Year's Day event that attracts thousands of spectators and is watched by millions more on TV.

Storms caused Christmas week flooding, mudslides and other miseries across the region. Now comes a 100% chance of rain Thursday in Pasadena, the National Weather Service said.

“We try not to say that word around here,” joked Candy Carlson, a spokesperson for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the organization behind the 137th Rose Parade, which precedes the Rose Bowl College Football Playoff game.

Arctic air is meanwhile expected to blanket much of the eastern two-thirds of the country, the weather service said.

In New York City, forecasters predict temperatures in the low 30s Fahrenheit (around zero degrees Celsius), which is not unusual, when the ball drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Light rain is possible in Las Vegas, where several casinos will be shooting fireworks from rooftops.

During Nashville's Big Bash, a New Year's Eve event at a park, temperatures will be in the low 30s when an illuminated music note drops at midnight in the Tennessee city. New Orleans will be in the mid-40s Fahrenheit (around 7 degrees Celsius) for a free concert and fireworks along the Mississippi River.

At the Rose Parade, it has rained only 10 times in the parade's history — and not since 2006, Carlson said.

Rare wet weather is unlikely to keep floats, marching bands, entertainers and others from participating. Carlson said people riding on floats will have rain gear if necessary, and tow trucks will be standing by in case of mechanical problems.

Spectators will need to prepare, too. Umbrellas are not allowed in parade seating areas that require tickets, though the ban doesn't cover people who simply line up along the nearly 6-mile (10-kilometer) route. Curbside camping — no tents — begins at noon Wednesday. Rain also is predicted that day.

“Last year's parade theme was ‘Best Day Ever!’ and six days later it was the worst," said Lisa Derderian, spokesperson for the city of Pasadena, referring to the devastating Eaton wildfire in Los Angeles County. “We want to start the new year on a high note. Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates with the weather.”

Confetti is released during a confetti test ahead of New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - Marching bands perform along Colorado Blvd. in the 136th Rose Parade, in Pasadena, Calif., Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)