ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Michael Suprenant, a U.S. Army civilian employee working at nearby Elmendorf Air Force Base, begins his race in 37th annual Iditarod March 7. Known as the “Last Great Race on Earth,” the Iditarod takes mushers and their dogs from Anchorage, in south central Alaska, to Nome on the western Bering Sea coast, more than 1,150 miles in ten to 17 days. Suprenant is a retired Air Force avionics technician on F-4s, A-10s, C-130s, C-5s, C-141s, KC-10s, KC-135s and the C-17. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Jonathan Steffen)