Alaska's 52nd annual Iditarod sled dog race mushes to starting line

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00:00 Welcome to the Iditarod, the world's most famous sled dog race.

00:05 38 mushers and their hounds will travel over 1,500 kilometres across harsh Alaskan wilderness for a chance at victory.

00:14 For five-time winner Dallas Seavey, this year could be his chance to make history and become the first musher to secure a sixth title.

00:22 "Now it's time to focus on having a good, clean race.

00:25 Take care of a dog team, get them down the trail as quickly as they can. Fixating on the sixth win is not going to help us accomplish that goal.

00:32 What's going to help us accomplish it is taking care of a dog team."

00:35 The race, which commemorates the 1925 Serum Run, was launched in 1973 as a novelty event consisting mainly of amateur mushers.

00:45 Competitors will trace a course across two mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River and along the ice-covered Bering Sea.

00:53 In about ten days, they will come off the ice and onto Main Street in Nome for the last push to the finish line.

01:00 For fans of dog racing, the event is a must-see.

01:04 "We came up here six years ago to visit a friend who lives down in Homer.

01:09 We found out a little bit about the Iditarod and we put it on our bucket list, said we have to come see it.

01:15 So here we are, six years later."

01:18 Saturday kicked off the event with the untimed and ceremonial 18-kilometre jaunt through Anchorage.

01:24 Timed competition begins on Sunday in the small community of Willow.

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