The Iditarod is one of the most grueling and treacherous races in the world. Mushers have to trek through the Alaskan tundra while battling the weather and whatever else crosses their path — including wild animals, such as moose.
However, for these resilient racers and their team of dogs, the prize is worth it at the end. Not only does the winner of the Iditarod go home with a trophy and bragging rights, but there is a cash prize at the end.
The 52nd edition of the dog sled race took place in 2024, and this year saw an increase in payout.
Here is a look at the purse of the 2024 Iditarod and how much money first place at the race takes home.
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Iditarod 2024 purse
The purse for the 2024 Iditarod race is $574,000.
This is an increase from years past. The famous Alaskan sled race did not see an uptick in the purse for a string of six seasons. However, last summer the organization announced it was bumping up the total by $50,000.
"Given that the pandemic and inflation disproportionately impacted our mushing community, we feel it is very important to increase the prize purse at this time," Mike Mills said, president of the Iditarod board of directors. "We realize more is needed to further defray the increasing costs of maintaining an Iditarod kennel, but this is the start of what we hope will be our ability to further increase the purse."
In addition, mushers have a chance at earning additional cash through the awards earned both during and after the race.
How much does the Iditarod 2024 winner make?
While the Iditarod announced an increase in the total purse at the event, the specific dollar amount assigned to each place was not revealed.
With that said, the winner of the 52nd edition of the race, Dallas Seavey, earned just over $55,000, the Associated Press reported.
Seavey earned the largest percentage of the $574,000 purse, as well as an additional $2,500 in cash and $3,000 in gold nuggets thanks to awards he earned during the trek. Seavey received the GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award as well as the Northrim Bank Achieve More Award.
