Everyone knows that Santa lives at the North Pole. In the offseason, however, he enjoys going south to Alaska to participate in the Iditerod dog sled race.
The standard race dog is an Alaskan husky, a breed made up of a mix of other breeds: Alaskan malamute, Siberian husky and Village Dog (a rural Alaskan mongrel made up of wolf, malamute, Siberian husky, hound and bird dog).
The winner of the first race took 20 days to complete the course from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. These days, the winner usually finishes the run in about nine days -- Doug Swingley of Lincoln, Montana, set the record in 1995 by coming in at 9 days, 2 hours and 42 minutes.
The Iditarod Trail is a historic landmark in Alaska. It was once used to deliver diphtheria serum to distant settlers in the sparsely-populated region.