WILLOW, Alaska - Joar Leifseth Ulsom may not be flashy or brash, but he has sled cred.
The quiet, unassuming 32-year-old defending champion of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race leads the field of 52 mushers hoping to be the first to reach Alaska's western coast after a thousand-mile (1,600-kilometre) trek across the wilderness.
Most of the contestants are Americans, but the lineup also features international mushers: two from Norway, including Ulsom; four from Canada; and one each from Sweden and France.
Their quest officially began Sunday when the mushers took off from a frozen lake about 50 miles (80 kilometres) north of Anchorage. A ceremonial start designed to be a fan-friendly experience was held Saturday in downtown Anchorage.
The winner is expected in Nome, an old Gold Rush town on Alaska's Bering Sea coast, in about nine days.
The Iditarod seems to go in streaks. Lance Mackey in 2007 won his first of four straight before health problems began to set in. Two years after Mackey's run, the Seavey legacy took hold, with mushers Mitch and his son, Dallas, combining to win the next six races.
