Aliy Zirkle, of Two Rivers, Ak., drives her dogs during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Saturday, March 3, 2012 in Archorage, Ak. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)
Aliy Zirkle, of Two Rivers, Ak., drives her dogs during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Saturday, March 3, 2012 in Archorage, Ak. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)
Mike Santos gives a fan a high-five during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Marc Lester)
Matt Giblin greets fans with Iditarider Danielle Couch, of California, as he passes through the University Lake area during the ceremonial start of the 2012 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Erik Hill)
Matt Giblin, from Juneau, Alaska, comes over the top of the Cordova Street hill during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Saturday, March 3, 2012 in Archorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)
Two-year-old Skylar Dupuis, from Eagle River, Alaska, watches the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Saturday, March 3, 2012 in Archorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)
WILLOW, Alaska (AP) ? Sixty-six mushers began their quest to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race with the competition's official start Sunday in Willow.
The mushers and their dog teams will spend about the next eight days traveling across nearly a thousand miles of Alaska wilderness in a sled, all trying to be the first musher to reach the old gold rush town of Nome.
The grandsons of Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race's co-founder Joe Redington were the first and last mushers on the trail.
Ray Redington Jr. picked the first spot during the musher's draw. The 36-year-old musher is competing in his 11th Iditarod and finished in 7th place last year. He said he hopes to do even better this year.
Ray Redington said this year's competition is "tough, very tough," with the racing teams becoming more professional and serious about winning.
"They're getting better. So am I," he said Sunday.
His younger brother, 29-year-old Ryan Redington, is competing in his 8th race but had to wait to get on the trail after picking the last spot.
There are six former champions in the race, including last year's winner, 49-year-old John Baker of Kotzebue.
Baker said that after winning last year's race, he considered retiring as an Iditarod musher. But then he realized there were too many people counting on him to run again.
When he isn't training for the Iditarod, Baker spends his time traveling to Alaska villages and giving Native children a message: Work hard, follow your dreams, and you can do it.
If he had decided not to run this year, Baker said, "it would kind of be like quitting people."
Also in the race is Lance Mackey, whose string of four consecutive wins was ended by Baker in 2011.
Mackey admitted feeling deeply disappointed by his finish in last year's race, particularly after coming off four straight wins. He has said he won't let himself feel that way again, no matter what the outcome.
But Mackey also said his team this year is ready to race, and he's in it to win it.
"This team is as good as any team here," he said.
Also in the field is Hugh Neff, who won last month's Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.
Organizers are now saying the northern Iditarod route between Willow and Nome taken on even years is actually 975 miles, not as long as the 1,150 miles quoted in the past. However, some mushers believe the new estimate is too low and that the race is at least 1,000 miles.
Organizers cited various reasons for the mileage tweak, including the move of the competitive start north from Wasilla to Willow.
On Saturday, they added one mile back in. Last month, organizers decided to remove the Happy River Steps, a dangerous set of switchbacks between the Finger Lake and Rainy Pass checkpoints. However, officials recently said the alternate route, a winter road created by a mineral exploration company, was no longer a better option because of snow, and they went back to the Happy River Steps route.
The total purse is $550,000 for the first 30 finishers, with the winner receiving $50,400 and a new truck. A record purse of $875,000 was handed out in 2008. In past years, the winner's take was as high as $69,000.
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