It appears that the Iditarod sled dog race is missing a crucial element, snow:

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is the most popular sporting event in Alaska, and has long been a test of human and animal endurance. Traveling a 1,000-mile path across Arctic tundra from Willow to Nome (with a ceremonial start in Anchorage), mushers and their teams of 16 specially-trained dogs must withstand some of the most extreme winter weather on Earth: blizzards and whiteout conditions, along with freezing temperatures, are commonplace.

The major challenge that mushers had to contend with this year — and that forced many of the more experienced racers out of the event — was not unusual cold and snow. In fact, it was the opposite — a near total lack of snow with ice covering across large stretches of the course. Mushing over snow cover across steep, rugged terrain is difficult enough, but the sleds were not designed for traversing gravel.

I actually saw the opening of the Iditerod in 1968, and the idea that there would be no snow was completely incomprehensible.

In fact, my enduring memory of that day is to walk into a f%$#ing igloo, and thinking how warm it was in there. (There was a sort of a fair at the beginning of the race.)

It was the first time that I was on a (pretty lame, actually) roller coaster.

The two things that I remember are the roller coaster and the start of the Iditerod.

H/t DC at the Stellar Parthenon BBS.