Nathaniel Wilder / Reuters

Gerald Sousa's team charges down the trail at the start of the Iditarod in Willow, Alaska, on March 3.

Nathaniel Wilder / Reuters

Four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King greets fans as his team charges down the trail at the start on March 3.

By Rachel D'Oro, The Associated Press: Dogs aching to run bolted out of the chute Sunday to launch the 41st running of Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Now 65 teams will be making their way through punishing wilderness toward the finish line in Nome on Alaska's western coast 1,000 miles away.

The Iditarod kicked off Saturday with an 11-mile jaunt through Anchorage, 50 miles south of the real starting line in the town of Willow. Sunday's event marked the competitive portion of the race. Read the full story. 

Nathaniel Wilder / Reuters

Peter Kaiser's team charges down the trail during the start on March 3.

Nathaniel Wilder / Reuters

A dog from Jeff King's team leaps into the air before it hits the trail on March 3.

Rachel D'Oro / AP

Dogs wait to run in the race on March 3.

Nathaniel Wilder / Reuters

The lead dogs of musher Brent Sass race down 4th Avenue at the ceremonial start to the Iditarod in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on March 2.

Previously on PhotoBlog:

• Blind sled dog thrives with brother's help
• Puppy training: Future service dogs head to maximum-security prison
• Dog days of winter

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Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News via AP

Dallas Seavey reaches the finish line to claim victory in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Nome, Alaska, on March 13, 2012.

25-year-old Dallas Seavey won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday evening, becoming the youngest musher to win the nearly 1,000-mile race across Alaska, The Associated Press reports.

"They mean the world to me," Seavey said of his dogs.

"I could not be prouder of these guys. It's hard to not come to tears when they finally crossed under this arch in first place." Read more.

• See the best pictures from the race in our slideshow