Mushers and dogs braved a horrific Alaska winter to deliver lifesaving serum 100 years ago

The Alaska Gold Rush town of Nome was hundreds of miles from anywhere, cut off by the frozen sea and under siege from a contagious disease known as the “strangling angel” for the way it suffocated children. Now, 100 years later, Nome is remembering its saviors, the sled dogs and mushers who raced hundreds of miles to deliver its cure. It took more than five days through hypothermia, frostbite, gale-force winds and blinding whiteouts to bring the life-saving serum to the community on Feb. 2, 1925. Events celebrating the serum run centennial are being celebrated throughout Alaska and elsewhere. A Maine man is even recreating the 675-mile trip with sled dogs in Alaska.