The ceremonial start of the 34th annual (XXXIV) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska began amidst the crowds of Anchorage on March 4, 2006, and the start of the competitive race, or "restart", began the next day in Willow. The race followed a modified version of the northern route for 1,151 mi (1,852 km) across the Alaska Range, through the sparsely inhabited Interior, along the Yukon River, and then up the coast of the Bering Sea to the city of Nome. Unlike in previous years, where the teams had to deal with unseasonably warm temperatures and soft, mushy snow, the weather was cold, with temperatures reported as low as −40 °F (−40 °C).
Eighty three competitors started the race, eleven "scratched", and one was withdrawn from the race. The field of racers was extremely competitive, with pundits like Cabela's John Little listing more than half a dozen possible winners. The ultimate winner was Jeff King, who crossed under the "burled arch" on March 15, becoming one of the few four-time champions.St. George, March 15, 2006, King makes it number four. Fellow four-time winner Doug Swingley of Montana came in 2nd place, followed by Paul Gebhardt. Each of the 83 teams was composed of 16 dogs, four of whom died during the event.
Note: All times are Alaska Standard Time/AKST (UTC-9).
Competitors There were 83 mushers that entered to race. The 51 Alaskans included four-time champion and speed-record holder Martin Buser, three-time winner Jeff King, 2004 winner Mitch Seavey, and the only five-time champion Rick Swenson, including a few Alaska Natives like Ramy Brooks, John Baker, and Ed Iten. There were 23 mushers as well from the lower 48 states, including four-time champion Doug Swingley.
Internationally, Canada is represented by three-time Yukon Quest winner Hans Gatt, Karen Ramstead, the owner of the only all-Siberian Husky team in the race, Sebastian Schnuelle, and rookie Warren Palfrey. Norway had three mushers in the race in that year, the 2005 rookie of the year, Bjørnar Andersen, and newcomers Tore Albrigtsen and Tove Sørensen (2005 champion Robert Sørlie is not racing this year). Fabrizio Lovati of Italy and Ben Valks of the Netherlands brought the European total to 5 mushers.
Celebrity mushers included Gary Paulsen, who ran his rookie race in 1983, scratched in 1985, withdrew prior to the race in 2005, and became the first musher to scratch in 2006, on March 6 at 1:08 a.m. at Skwentna. Legally blind musher Rachael Scdoris of Bend, Oregon, has also attempted the Iditarod for the second time, after she scratched in Eagle Island in 2005. Her visual interpreter for that year was Tim Osmar.
According to Iditarod reporter Little, the field was just as competitive as it was during the 2005 Iditarod, making it very hard to pick a winner. Former champions Buser, King, Swingley, and Seavey were all strong candidates to win. Of that elite crowd, King won the Kobuk 440 last year and the Kusko this year; while five-time winner Swenson, who scratched for the first time in 2005, is probably out of the running. The last of the likely winners is Bjørnar Andersen. As this year's representative of Team Norway, he inherited half of Robert Sørlie's winning 2005 team of dogs, and even without them Andersen's 4th-place finish in 2004 was the best finish by a rookie since the race first started in the 1970s.Little, March 4, 2006 (1).
Other racers who expected to finish well were Lance Mackey, who won the 1,000 mi (1,600 km) Yukon Quest, three-time runner up DeeDee Jonrowe, 2005's 2nd-place finisher Ed Iten, two-time runner up Ramy Brooks, perennial top-10er John Baker. A third tier of capable racers included winner of the 2005 Klondike 300 Cim Smyth (who also recorded the fastest time from Safety to Nome in 2005, despite only having 5 dogs left), Jessie Royner, winner of the 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Ken Andersen, Aaron Burmeister, 2nd-place finisher in the 2005 Klondike 300 Matt Hayashida, Melanie Gould, Paul Gebhardt, and former Yukon Quest winner Aliy Zirkle. A win by either Aliy Zirkle or Lance Mackey would place them in the elite company of mushers to have won both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod — in Lance's case, in the same year, an historical first. Hans Gatt is normally a contender, but this year he is running a team of young, inexperienced dogs.
Warren Palfrey of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Tore Albrigtsen or Tove Sorensen from Norway were likely candidates for rookie of the year.
Awards Doug Swingley won the PenAir Spirit of Alaska Award on March 8 at 0:12 a.m. for being the first to reach McGrath, on the bank of the Kuskokwim River. He was awarded a "spirit mask" by artist Orville Lind and US$500 in credit to cover travel or freight shipments at the checkpoint by PenAir's Chief Operating Officer, Danny Seybert.St. George, March 8, 2006, Swingley.
Doug Swingley also won the CGI Dorothy Page Halfway Award on March 9 at 0:09 a.m. for being the first to reach Cripple, which is officially designated as the halfway point on even years when the northern route is run. He was awarded US$3,000 in gold nuggets at the checkpoint by CGI Logisitics' Rick Westbrook.St. George, March 9, 2006.
Paul Gebardt won the Millennium Alaskan Hotel's First to the Yukon Award on March 10 at 12:05 a.m. for being the first to reach Ruby, on the bank of the Yukon River. He was awarded US$3,500 in one-dollar bills at the checkpoint and had a gourmet seven-course meal prepared on a camp stove by Millennium Alaskan Hotel's Executive Chef Stephen England and Food and Beverage Director Brooke McGrath. The "Yukon Fox" Emmitt Peters, 1975 winner of the Iditarod and Ruby native, participated.Gephart first to reach Ruby, 2006.
Jeff King won the Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award on March 12 at 12:26 p.m. for being the first to reach Unalakleet, an Inupiaq Eskimo community on the Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. He was awarded the Gold Coast trophy and US$2,500 in gold at the checkpoint by Wells Fargo' Community Banking President for Nome and Kotzebue, Jennifer Imus.St. George, March 12, 2006.
Jeff King won the XXXIV Iditarod on March 15, at 1:11:36 a.m. for being the first to reach the Burled Arch in Nome. He was awarded US$69,000 by Wells Fargo, and a 2006 pickup from Anchorage Chrysler Dodge. Only King, Martin Buser, Susan Butcher, and Doug Swingley have won the race four times; and only Rick Swenson has won it five times. At 50 years of age, King also became the oldest musher to win the race.
Mike Jayne won the Rookie of the Year Race on March 16 at 3:07:15 a.m. for being the first rookie to reach the finish. He arrived in 25th place, beating out Tove Sorensen, who finished in 28th and 29th place, both at 4:30:30 a.m.. Jayne beat five-time winner Rick Swenson, who finished his 30th Iditarod at 3:27:30 a.m. in 26th position, his worst place ever. Swenson is a member of the Iditarod Trail Committee board of directors, and has been making intimations of retirement.Klott 2006.Checkpoint summary, 2006. From respective summary.
Glenn Lockwood received the red lantern award for being the last to finish the race.
The awards will be presented again to the winners during the Awards Banquet at the Nome Recreation Center on March 19.
Scratches Eleven mushers "scratched" (withdrew from the race):
Gary Paulsen was in 62nd place when he scratched on March 6 at 5:30 a.m. in Skwentna for "personal reasons"St. George, March 6, 2006, Paulsen. Lori Townsend was in 44th place when she scratched on March 6 at 9:40 p.m. in Rainy Pass due to a possible rib injury.St. George, March 6, 2006, Townsend. Sandy McKee was in 78th place when she scratched on March 7 at 8:00 p.m. in Rainy Pass.St. George, March 7, 2006. Rookie Sue Morgan from Richmond, Utah, was in 78th place when she scratched on March 8 at 8:00 a.m. in Rainy Pass due to a possible cracked rib.St. George, March 8, 2006, Morgan. Terry Adkins of Sand Coulee, Montana, was in 67th place when he scratched on March 10 at 10:15 a.m. in Takotna.St. George, March 10, 2006, Adkins. Rich Larson of Sand Coulee, Montana was in 69th place when he scratched on March 10 at 11:15 a.m. in McGrath due to the "lack of leaders in his team"St. George, March 10, 2006, Larson. Richard Hum of Talkeetna, Alaska, scratched on March 10 at 11:20 a.m. in McGrath "because his team was young".St. George, March 10, 2006, Hum. Jim Warren of Linwood, Michigan, scratched on March 10 at 12:07 p.m. in Takotna "based on well being of his remaining young team".St. George, March 10, 2006, Warren. Matt Hayashida of Willow, Alaska scratched on March 11 at 7:45 a.m. in Cripple "based on the well being of his dog team".St. George, March 11, 2006, Hayashida. Veteran Iditarod competitor John Barron of Helmsville, Montana, scratched on March 11 at 3:00 p.m. in Galena "because his team was sick".St. George, March 11, 2006, Barron. Dave Tresino scratched on March 11 at 4:30 p.m. in Cripple due to a "lack of leaders".St. George, March 11, 2006, Tresino.
One musher was withdrawn from the race. Withdrawing a musher is at the sole discretion of Race Marshall Mark Nordman: Ben Valks of the Netherlands was withdrawn from the race after arriving in Shaktoolik on March 18 at 4:00 p.m. as the red lantern in last place. According to Norman's report, "Valks had taken good care of his team and himself throughout the race, but that in his judgment Valks' team was no longer considered competitive".Nordman, March 18.
Canine fatalities Each of the 83 teams was composed of 16 dogs at the start of the competitive race in Willow. Mushers are allowed to drop dogs at any checkpoint, usually because of concern over their performance, but also or for their health. Veterinarians examine the dogs at each checkpoint, and also have the discretion to withdraw dogs. Dropped dogs are flown to Anchorage or Nome, where they are provided with medical care. Teams are usually reduced to between 9 and 12 dogs by the time they arrived in Nome.
An average of 3 dogs die each year. A necropsy by a board certified veterinary pathologist is conducted after every fatality to determine the cause of death.
Yellowknife, a 4-year-old male from Noah Burmeister's team, died on March 9 at 6:00 a.m.. Yellowknife was initially dropped at Rohn on March 7, and was provided medical care in Anchorage.Nordman, March 9 (1). The preliminary necropsy indicated pneumonia as the cause of death.Nordman, March 9 (2). Bear, a 3-year-old male from David Sawatzsky's team, died on March 11 between Cripple and Ruby.Nordman, March 11. The gross necropsy found no abnormalities.Nordman, March 13 (1). Cupid, a 4-year-old female from Jim Lanier's team, died on March 12 between Galena and Nulato.Nordman, March 12. The gross necropsy found regurgitation and aspiration were the likely cause of death, and secondarily gastric ulcers.Nordman, March 13 (2). Jack, a 5-year-old male from Wisconsin musher Ron Cortte's team, died on March 18 at White Mountain. Jack was examined by veterinarians on arrival and appeared normal, but died of unknown causes 30 min later.
Route The race ran over the Alaska Range, where an avalanche claimed the life of Richard Strick Jr. in mid-February, into the former Gold Rush country of the Alaska Interior, past Athabaskan villages. Since 2006 is an even numbered year, the race followed the northern route from Ophir, past the halfway point at Cripple, before rejoining the main route at Kaltag, on the Yukon River. From Kaltag the race swings west to the Norton Sound, on coast of the Bering Sea.
March 4: Ceremonial start in Anchorage