The Iditarod, an annual 1,600 kilometre-long sled dog race, has begun in a remote area of the US state of Alaska .<br /><br />Sixty-six teams on Saturday set out from downtown Anchorage in the east of Alaska, snaking their way across the frozen tundra to the city of Nome in the west.<br /><br />Also known as the "Last Great Race on Earth", the contest takes place in some of the harshest terrain on the planet.<br /><br />Winners in recent years havereached Nome in about nine days.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Cath Turner reports from Unalakleet, one of the checkpoints along the way.
