Iditabusiness: the Iditarod is not only the last great race, it's also big business.

• Author: Reid, Sean
• Position: Sled dog racing

Dog mushing. Whether it's hitching up the family hounds or competing in organized racing in events from Anchorage to Coldfoot, it's big in Alaska. And out there at mile 2.5 on the Knik road north of Anchorage, it has also become big business--Iditabusiness.

Here, in a spacious $425,000 log building on more than nine acres of birch-forested land donated by the city of Wasilla, is the home of the Iditarod Trail Committee Inc. A paid staff of 10, plus numerous volunteers, conduct the $2 million-a-year, full-time business of promoting, running and selling the undisputed top dog of organized mushing. The Iditarod is the world's longest, richest and most famous sled dog race.

The Iditarod has come a long way since 1967 when musher Joe Redington Sr. of Knik and historian Dorothy Page of Wasilla conceived and organized a 56-mile event following the abandoned dog-team mail route linking Knik to Nome. In 1973, the race expanded to cover the full length of the trail -- some 1,100 miles across the heart of Alaska. It took the winner of that race 20 days. For his efforts he received $12,000.

In 1992 Martin Buser of Big Lake mushed his team to victory from Anchorage to Nome in 10 days and 19 hours. He brought home more than a shiny trophy. There was $51,000 in prize money, and another $1,600 from the "finisher's club," the keys to a new $25,000 Dodge diesel 4X4, and the opportunity to cash in on his new-found fame with a variety of advertising endorsements. Gained, too, was enhanced credibility for his dog breeding and training kennel, what Buser calls a "spin-off" business.

Like any enterprise, professional dog mushing and its spin-offs require long-term investment; in Buser's case, it took about five or six years to build his kennel and competitiveness to its current level of eminence. A working, supportive wife helped, as did financial sponsorships from local and regional companies looking to link their products or services with a well-liked and respected musher on the rise.

Following his 1992 win, the sponsorships and advertising endorsements have become substantial, according to Buser, and help cover the annual $60,000 to $70,000 cost of maintaining a 70-dog fleet. The win has not netted any new national endorsements, but has shored up existing sponsorships, including a national dog food and a local pizza chain, a lumber yard and a Ford dealership. It was Buser's relationship with Nye Ford in Wasilla that prompted him to sell that new...