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The world's longest snowmobile race, Tesoro Iron Dog, from Wasilla to Fairbanks, Alaska began on Sunday, Feb. 8, according to an Team Arctic Cat press release.

The Iron Dog course length is 1971 miles, starting in outside of Anchorage in Wasilla/Big Lake and heading northwest for 1,106 miles to the roughly half-way point in Nome on Feb. 11. From Nome the course heads east for the 865-mile run to the finish in Fairbanks on Feb. 11.

The Iron Dog is one of the toughest races as it traverses some of Alaska's the most remote and rugged terrain while confronting harsh winter conditions.
The Iron Dog Pro Class consists of a team of two persons on two snowmobiles.

After one day of racing the teams have a mandatory layover location of McGrath, roughly 372 miles into the race.

 Four time Iron Dog Champion, Todd Palin, and his teammate, Scott Davis, currently are in third place overall.

"The eyes of the world are focused on the dynamic duo of Scott Davis and Todd Palin as they attempt to win the rugged Tesoro Iron Dog," said Team Arctic spokesperson.

Palin, the husband of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, most recently won in 2007 with current partner Davis.

Davis has won the event seven times, beginning in 1985.

They are contending with defending champion Eric Quam and new partner Bradly Helwig (in fifth at the McGrath layover), as well as 2006 winners Dwayne Drake and Andy George (sixth in McGrath), all competing aboard Arctic Cat F6 machines.

The racers will be in sight at all times because of Iridium®-enabled tracking system supplied by a global satellite solutions company, World Communication Center (WCC), according to a Iridium Satellite press release.

WCC is outfitting each snowmobile team with ASE "SBD Pro" units which utilize Iridium short-burst data service to send GPS position information, permitting officials and spectators to track the actual position of each race team.

"The tracking system provides a great safety feature," says Laura Bedard, Executive Director, Tesoro Iron Dog. "The tracking system is designed to send a signal every five minutes to the ONTEC interface, allowing us to follow each race team. If a racer crashes or stops prior to a check point, the Iron Dog website confirms the last known position, giving the race headquarters a tracking point if an emergency situation arises."

According to Iridium's press release, volunteers in previous years had to radio-in when racers pass checkpoints, and another volunteer would enter the coordinates into the Iron Dog website manually.

WCC's position reports will be viewable via the Tesoro Iron Dog Website using Google Earth at www.irondog.org and www.wcclp.com/irondog.asp.