Northern Exposed

Alaska Ultra Sport's Iditarod Trail Invitational is the world's longest human powered winter ultra-marathon, with racers competing on either mountain bike, skis or on foot. The event, set to begin Sunday, February 24th, starts racers in Knik, Alaska and follows the Iditarod Trail to McGrath, Alaska for the finish of the 350-mile "short race". Racers competing in the 1100-mile version will continue up the trail to Nome, Alaska.

The only support provided to the racers are two snowmachines in front of the leaders as far as McGrath, with only a few food drops along the route. Racers continuing to Nome are completely on their own except for one additional food drop provided by race officials. Many racers will use village stores or send packages to the village post offices to re-supply their food or fuel for stoves, and schools are often the only place to spend the night inside a building along the route to Nome.

Mike Curiak, the current 1100-mile record holder on bike, simply offers that racers compete, "for the challenge, the isolation and raw beauty that you get to experience."

To view a map of this world's longest human powered winter race, and to follow each of the racer's progress, be sure and check out the Iditarod Trail Invitational website.

With fellow blogger Jill's impending fat-tired, 350-mile journey through the Alaskan wilderness soon to begin, I wanted to send to her, and the handful of other brave adventurers, a final warming thought from an inspirational television "dramedy" favorite:



Best of luck to you on your travels, Jill. I know we're all excited to hear about your adventure and see your photos of the journey when it's completed. The only advice I can send is be sure to enjoy those Northern Lights if you see them, and take care to avoid any moose tracks you find along your trail!