The Run to Nome

Part One · A Town in Trouble

Nome was a small town in Alaska. In the winter of 1925, it was covered in deep snow. The sea was frozen, so no ships could come in. The town was cut off from the rest of the world. Nome is far up in the north of Alaska.

That winter, children in Nome began to get sick. The sickness was called diphtheria. It makes the throat hurt, and it can be very serious. The town doctor knew what could help, but he was almost out of medicine. Many families in the town were worried.

The medicine was far away in a city called Anchorage. Planes could not fly in that cold and wind. A train carried the medicine part of the way, to a town named Nenana. The wind was fierce and the cold was bitter.

From there, the medicine had to go more than six hundred miles to Nome. People knew what to do. They used the best way to cross snow in Alaska. They called on sled dogs. It was a very long way for a dog team to go.

Part Two · The Relay

A sled driver is called a musher. About twenty mushers took part. Each one drove a team of dogs across one part of the trail. Then he handed the medicine to the next musher. This kind of race is called a relay.

The trail was cold and hard. The wind blew snow across the path, and it was often dark. A dog team has a lead dog at the front. The lead dog has to find the trail, even when it is hard to see.

One musher, Leonhard Seppala, drove across the longest and hardest part. His lead dog was a smart husky named Togo. Togo led the team over thin ice and through storms. Many people think Togo ran farther than any other dog.

The medicine kept moving. Team after team ran through the cold. The mushers stopped only to hand off the small package. All along the way, people hoped the dogs would make it in time. Some of the mushers ran through the night.

Near the end, a musher named Gunnar Kaasen took the medicine. His lead dog was a black husky named Balto. A strong storm hit, and the snow flew so hard that Kaasen could barely see. He trusted Balto to follow the trail.

Balto kept going. At one point, a gust of wind tipped the sled over. Kaasen looked for the package in the snow and found it. Then the team ran on. They did not give up. It was a great relief to have the medicine back.

Early on February 2, 1925, Balto and the team came down the main street of Nome. The medicine had arrived. The whole trip had taken about five days, which was much faster than anyone thought it could. Everyone in Nome had been waiting for this news.

The doctor used the medicine, and the sick children got better. Newspapers told the story, and people all over the world cheered for the dogs and their drivers. It was a happy time for the town. The long wait was over.

Balto became famous. Today there is a statue of him in Central Park in New York City. It honors Balto, but it also honors all the dogs and mushers who ran that winter. Together, they saved a town. Their run is still told as a true tale of courage.