NOME — Thomas Waerner of Norway returned to the real world early Wednesday morning when he arrived here as the champion of the 48th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.Waerner, 47, crossed under the burled-arch finish line at 12:37 a.m. to the cheers of several hundred spectators who gathered amid concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus that has limited activities worldwide.For more than nine days he had escaped everything but the trail and his dogs. Now his race was over, his dogs had been fed a finish-line snack, and Waerner was listening to a...…NOME — Thomas Waerner of Norway returned to the real world early Wednesday morning when he arrived here as the champion of the 48th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.Waerner, 47, crossed under the burled-arch finish line at 12:37 a.m. to the cheers of several hundred spectators who gathered amid concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus that has limited activities worldwide.For more than nine days he had escaped everything but the trail and his dogs. Now his race was over, his dogs had been fed a finish-line snack, and Waerner was listening to a...WW…

After he lost the race trail, Jeff King stopped his dog team and draped his sleeping bag over his head to block the battering wind and blowing snow. He was somewhere between the villages of Ambler and Shungnak in Alaska’s Arctic northwest competing in the Kobuk 440 Sled Dog Race. Conditions ranged from howling to furious.The last few hours took exhaustive effort to move straight into fierce headwind. So when King stopped seeing trail markers, he thought better than to guess about how to correct his course.“If we’re not going towards the trail, it means we’re going away from the trail, and...…After he lost the race trail, Jeff King stopped his dog team and draped his sleeping bag over his head to block the battering wind and blowing snow. He was somewhere between the villages of Ambler and Shungnak in Alaska’s Arctic northwest competing in the Kobuk 440 Sled Dog Race. Conditions ranged from howling to furious.The last few hours took exhaustive effort to move straight into fierce headwind. So when King stopped seeing trail markers, he thought better than to guess about how to correct his course.“If we’re not going towards the trail, it means we’re going away from the trail, and...WW…

Many of Alaska’s most popular musical artists performed Tuesday at the Ship Creek small-boat launch, though no large crowd gathered to see them.Videos captured there will become the AK4AK virtual music festival, which will debut online starting at 6 p.m. May 1.Organizers, including Showdown Productions and Anchorage Assembly member Christopher Constant, say the event was inspired by the sacrifices Alaskans made to flatten the curve of new COVID-19 cases and to thank shipping and port workers who keep food and supplies coming into the state.For musicians it was a welcome chance to play since...…Many of Alaska’s most popular musical artists performed Tuesday at the Ship Creek small-boat launch, though no large crowd gathered to see them.Videos captured there will become the AK4AK virtual music festival, which will debut online starting at 6 p.m. May 1.Organizers, including Showdown Productions and Anchorage Assembly member Christopher Constant, say the event was inspired by the sacrifices Alaskans made to flatten the curve of new COVID-19 cases and to thank shipping and port workers who keep food and supplies coming into the state.For musicians it was a welcome chance to play since...WW…