Facts: Suicide Sled Race

Photo: Snow mobiles gathered at the checkpoint

Photo by NGT

  • All teams participating in the Pro Class (competitive) Iron Dog race are comprised of two team members, each with his or her own snowmobile.

  • The Iron Dog course is over 2,000 miles, going from Big Lake, to Nome, and finishing in Fairbanks, AK. It was previously 1,971 miles, but as of 2011, 60 miles were added to the course due to re-routing.

  • Although injuries like broken bones, frostbite, and dehydration are common in the Iron Dog, no deaths have been directly linked to the race.

  • Between subzero air temperatures and the speed at which the snowmobiles travel, racers can experiences wind chill temperatures in the negative triple digits.

  • Since racers cannot leave their bivy sacks for bladder relief at night without risking hypothermia, they use a military invention that converts urine into a gel form.

  • Nome marks the halfway point of the race, dividing it into Northbound and Southbound sections, totaling 1108 and 911 miles, respectively.

  • Parts of the race entail drivers crossing open water at speeds high enough to “skip” over the surface.

  • The suggested retail price of a new, performance-level snowmobile can exceed $12,000.

  • According to the Guinness World Records website, the official record for the longest snowmobile journey is 12,163 miles (19,574.45 km), driven by Robert G. Davis in Maine and Canada during a 60-day period in 2008.

  • According to the Guinness World Records website, the record for the fastest snowmobile is 172.2 mph (277.13 km/h) , achieved by Chris Hanson in Canada in 2004.

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