| Competition: | 51st Annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race |
| Venue: | Iditarod Trail |
| Location: | Alaska |
| Dates: | March 4, 2023–March 17, 2023 |
| Competitors: | 33 |
| Champion: | Ryan Redington |
| Previous: | 2022 Iditarod |
| Next: | 2024 Iditarod |
The 2023 Iditarod was the 51st edition of the Iditarod, an annual sled dog race in the U.S. state of Alaska. It began on March 4, 2023, with a ceremonial 11miles start in Anchorage, Alaska.[1] The official 1000miles race began the following day in Willow, Alaska, and ended 9 to 10 days later in Nome, Alaska.[2] [3] It used the southern route of the Iditarod Trail for the first time since the 2019 edition.[4]
The 2023 race had 33 mushers, the smallest field of competitors in its history; the decline in participants was attributed to financial issues following the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing inflation surge.[2] The field included reigning champion Brent Sass and 2019 champion Peter Kaiser.[1] Ryan Redington, the grandson of Iditarod Race co-founder Joe Redington, won for the first time with a time of 8 days, 21 hours, 12 minutes, and 58 seconds.[5] A total of 29 teams finished the race—the last arrived on March 17 to earn the Red Lantern award.[6] [7]