When Alaskans have a snow machine race (what people in the lower 48 call “snowmobiles” are called “snow machines” in the Great Land), they don’t pussyfoot around. The Iron Dog race is a 2,500-mile snow machine race that begins in Big Lake, Alaska, just west of Wasilla, and ends up in Nome – the route runs through a great deal of Alaskan wilderness. It’s a challenge to test the mettle of the toughest Alaskan, and the 2024 Iron Dog is going on right now, having kicked off on Saturday.