The Nome Serum Run in 1925 and Today’s Iditarod Race

Why did a diphtheria outbreak in Alaska lead to the Nome Serum Run in 1925, when hundreds of dogs were made to run over 600 miles in a relay? Keep reading to learn more.

How the 1925 Serum Run to Nome Started

In January 1925, an outbreak of diphtheria in the town of Nome, Alaska, raised fears that an epidemic could kill thousands if antitoxin medicine were not supplied. Aircraft transport was not readily available at the time, and weather conditions were extreme, so the antitoxin, located nearly 700 miles away in the town of Nenana, could only be delivered by teams of dogs. The relay teams were made to haul sleds on wilderness trails.

The delivery of the lifesaving medicine became known as the Nome Serum Run. Although today’s Iditarod dog-sled race wasn’t prompted by the Serum Run, race organizers sometimes cite it in marketing promotions in an attempt to give the event a whiff of legitimacy.

How Long Was the Serum Run to Nome?

Twenty dog teams (approximately 150 dogs in total) were made to bring the serum 674 miles from Nenana to Nome in about five and a half days. No team ran the entire distance—they ran in relays. Roadhouses were positioned about every 20 miles so that mushers and their dogs could rest, eat, and pass the baton.

Comparing the 1925 Serum Run to Nome and the Iditarod

In 1925, no other options were available to transport medicine quickly to Nome during winter conditions. The Serum Run was a one-time occurrence, prompted by a public health crisis. Today, lifesaving medicine is delivered to places like Nome via airplane. And make no mistake: Dogs did sustain injuries and some died on the run to Nome in 1925. The Iditarod, which is done solely for cash prizes and bragging rights, has put dogs at risk for more than 50 years. The event has killed more than 150 dogs since its inception, and those are just the reported deaths.

The 1925 Serum Run to Nome was 674 miles, whereas today’s Iditarod is nearly 1,000 miles long and the dogs are forced to run more than 100 miles per day. Except for dogs who are pulled from the trail due to exhaustion, illness, or injury, dogs are forced to remain in the Iditarod race for its duration, as opposed to the dogs who ran only a portion of the distance to Nome in 1925. Although today’s Iditarod race can take up to two weeks, the official rules require only that the dogs be provided with 40 hours of rest—in total. Dogs are only provided with a small bed of straw on top of the snow to sleep and eat on, and they’re prohibited from taking shelter during any part of the race, except to undergo veterinary exams or treatment.

Many pull muscles, incur stress fractures, or become sick with diarrhea, dehydration, intestinal viruses, or bleeding stomach ulcers. Aspiration pneumonia—which can develop after dogs inhale their own vomit—is the number one cause of death on the trail.

Outside of the race, when they aren’t being forced to run, dogs are forced to live in a muddy stew of urine, feces, and sometimes rotting food on a 6-foot chain attached to dilapidated doghouses or plastic barrels.

Dogs are highly social pack animals who suffer in isolation and crave and need companionship, praise, and play. They become excited when they’re around beloved human companions and get a rush of positive emotions when cuddled. These sociable animals even bond with members of other species—from sheep to penguins.

Dogs who aren’t fast runners or who simply can’t run for days on end are discarded like defective equipment. Dogs used for sledding have been shot, bludgeoned to death, abandoned to starve, and had their throats slit. The quest to find “winners” leads to a cycle of continual breeding, even though Alaskan shelters have been at capacity and forced to turn away dogs.

Help Dogs Like Those in the Nome Serum Run

While we can’t help the dogs who died in the Serum Run to Nome in 1925, we can help those like them exploited by mushers today just to score cash prizes and bragging rights in the deadly Iditarod. Please urge event sponsors to cut ties with the deadly race:

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