The 2009 Iditarod Race was a show-stopper, literally. Aside from the normal subzero temperatures for hundreds and hundreds of miles, the logistics of preparing months (years) in advance, having dog food and supplies delivered and waiting in the middle of nowhere repeatedly throughout the race, mushers sometimes still have to acknowledge how little control they really have. Mother nature put the brakes on the front runners of this race just a few hundred miles from Nome, forcing them to layover in one of the most remote, windswept and difficult places to get into or out of throughout the race.
Though it only lasted about 24 hours, it was enough time for Lance Mackey to pull into Nome and capture his 4th consecutive win, logging himself into the history books forever.