Alaska's Iditarod sled dog race shoves off with coronavirus-altered course

• World's most famous sled dog race starts on Sunday in Alaska
• Only 47 mushers have entered this year's race amid pandemic

The word Iditarod' derives from an indigenous Alaskan name for a far distant place'. Due to precautions made necessary by the Covid-19 pandemic, this year's Iditarod Trail sled dog race, which starts on Sunday, will be an especially distanced event.

The trail for the world's most famous sled dog race has been drastically rerouted to avoid almost all the communities that normally serve as checkpoints, and the traditional ceremonial start in Anchorage has been eliminated.