38th year of famed Alaskan sled dog race begins with 71 teams . The first competition was held in 1936 and the event has been staged every winter since then. He carried an American flag in his sled for more than 1,000 miles to the finish line that year and set an Iditarod record for the shortest race time ever recorded : 8 days , 22 hours , 46 minutes and 2 seconds . `` It 's like watching your kid graduate from college , '' musher says of completing .
38th year of famed Alaskan sled dog race begins with 71 teams . The first competition was held in 1936 and the event has been staged every winter since then. `` It 's like watching your kid graduate from college , '' musher says of completing .