Willow , Alaska ( CNN ) -- The 2010 Iditarod is officially under way , with 71 mushers and dog teams on the wide-open trail toward Nome . Teams will spend the next week and a half crossing 1,049 miles through some of the most demanding and formidable conditions on Earth , including North America 's largest mountain chain , the Alaska range . `` Ten days and nothing else but eat , sleep and feed dogs , '' Canadian musher Sebastian Schnuelle said excitedly . The sport has been dominated in recent years by Lance Mackey , 39 , of Fairbanks , Alaska , and this year he will be trying to accomplish what no musher in history has been able to do : win four consecutive Iditarods . Mackey is a throat cancer survivor and is known for his fierce determination and competitive spirit . He comes from family of Alaskan mushing champions . His father , Dick Mackey , and brother Rick have also won the Iditarod . Dick Mackey 's one-second win over Rick Swenson in 1978 set a record for the closest finish in Iditarod history . The Iditarod , though , is n't a competitive sprint to the finish for every musher in the field . Jim Lanier , 69 , of Chugiak , Alaska , mushes primarily for enjoyment . He 's entered and completed 13 Iditarods , at least one in all four decades the race has been in existence . He has never won . Rookie Iditarod musher Kristy Berington admits that she 's not racing to win ; she just hopes to finish . Her longest race prior to entering this year 's Iditarod was only 300 miles . `` I 've got puppies on this team that I want to see get to Nome . It 's like watching your kid graduate from college , '' said the 25-year-old Kasilof , Alaska , resident . `` They go and they 're puppies , and they come back and they 're dogs . '' She has been training with Iditarod veteran Paul Gebhardt and has borrowed one of his dog teams to lead her to Nome . Outside of personal accomplishments and goals , the race this year also presents an opportunity for some mushers to show their respect to fallen serviceman , thanks to a collaboration with the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors . Always a top competitor in the race , four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser of Big Lake , Alaska , has six commemorative purple ribbons attached to his sled this year , placed there at the ceremonial start by the wives of the fallen soldiers and officers . Buser , who was born in Switzerland in 1958 , became a U.S. citizen in 2002 . `` After the 9/11 incident , I proved to my boys that this is the soil I wanted to defend ... so being asked to do such honors as these are very , very important to me because I 'm truly one of the new immigrants and one of the staunches believers in our country , '' he said . Buser was naturalized under the famous burled arch in Nome at the finish line of the 2002 Iditarod . 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 . His two sons are even named after Iditarod checkpoints : Nikolai and Rohn . The 2010 Iditarod musher 's roster includes men and women ages 18 to 69 who hail from five countries : the United States , Canada , Scotland , Belgium and Jamaica . Some are professional mushers who raise and train sled dogs year-round ; others are teachers , nurses , horse trainers , foresters or biologists . A doctor and a fishing guide also are included , among other professions . Asked to explain why mushers are drawn to this sport , four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King of Denali Park , Alaska , took time to reflect before answering . `` Until you 've ridden a dog team you 've trained from puppies on a full moon with a hard trail and feel their energy and hear the panting of their tongues , the jingle of their collars , feel the surge of power that comes through the handlebar , I do n't think you can appreciate what it 's really like , '' the 54-year-old said . `` But that 's exactly the reason . ''
38th year of famed Canadian sled dog race begins with 18 teams . the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors will be trying for fourth consecutive win . `` It 's like watching your kid graduate from college , '' Jeff King says of completing .