ANCHORAGE, Alaska—The rugged Iditarod started Monday, but a dearth of snow forced the iconic dog sled race to start further north and added a new route that allows mushers to bypass barren land, lengthening by more than 100 miles an unforgiving journey often measured in grit and attrition.
The new course reroutes mushers and their dog teams around a difficult stretch of trail north of the Alaska Range, which is treacherous with snow and ice but mostly unpassable in dry conditions for sleds.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is usually billed as a 1,000-mile race across Alaska. The route change means it’s now 1,128 miles. Mushers began their trek to the finish line in Nome from Fairbanks, the fourth time this century the race has been forced north from the Anchorage area….