Illustrated by Chris Schweizer

The Race to Save Lives

How medicine carried by sled dogs became an Alaskan town's only hope.

By Jennifer Hackett and Jess Romeo | Illustrated by Chris Schweizer

From the December 2025/January 2026 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will explain how a daring rescue in extreme weather saved people from a deadly disease.

Key Focus Area: Structure & Function,

Other Focus Areas: Technology, Numbers & Operations

Standards

The Race to Save Lives: Video Read-Aloud

Listen to a read-aloud of this article.

Jim McMahon/Mapman® (Globe)

The year is 1925. It’s the middle of winter. Freezing weather has cut off Nome, Alaska, from the rest of the world. The remote town is located far north, near the Arctic Circle. The nearby sea is frozen solid, so ships can’t approach. No railroads connect Nome to other towns. Travel by airplane, a recent invention, isn’t an option. People have one reliable way to reach Nome: dogsled. When a deadly illness called diphtheria (dif-THIHR-ee-uh) starts spreading, it’s up to teams of sled dogs to deliver much-needed medicine. Can they reach Nome before it’s too late?

January 1925: Nome’s only doctor, Curtis Welch, is treating a sudden outbreak of sore throats in local children.

These children aren’t getting better. What could be causing this?

I’m afraid it’s our worst fear. They have diphtheria.

This infection is highly contagious—and deadly.

Diphtheria is caused by bacteria. They create a thick coating in the throat, making it difficult to breathe. A special type of medicine called a serum (SIHR-uhm) is the only treatment.

Unfortunately, the town’s supply of serum is expired.

January 26: The disease spreads. With cases rising, town officials discuss a plan to treat the sick and stop the outbreak. But their options are limited.

Good news! A hospital in Anchorage, Alaska, has serum we can use.

But how will they get it to us? By plane?

That won’t work. I’s too cold for planes to fly.

There’s only one solution. It will need to be carried along the mail routes by dogsled teams.

The Plan: A train will carry the serum from Anchorage to Nenana, Alaska. Then mushers, or dogsled drivers, will pass the serum from team to team until it reaches Nome. The trip usually takes 25 days. The teams need to do it much faster than that because diphtheria can kill patients in one to two weeks.

JANUARY 27: The train arrives in Nenana with the serum. The first musher, William “Wild Bill” Shannon, straps the crate of serum to his sled and sets off.

I’ll take it from here.

Dogsled teams face exhaustion, frigid temperatures as low as −51°F (−46°C), and snowdrifts 10 feet (3 meters) high.

If I run alongside the sled, that’s less weight for the dogs to pull! Maybe they won’t tire out as quickly.

Some mushers suffer frostbite—skin injuries caused by very cold weather. Despite their thick fur, some sled dogs get frostbite too.

JANUARY 28: Musher Edgar Kalland arrives at a tavern in Manley Hot Springs, Alaska. The owner pours hot water over his frozen mittens to free him from his sled’s handlebar!

We n-n-need to warm up the serum. B-b-but my hands are f-f-frozen.

JANUARY 31: Musher Leonhard Seppala and his lead dog, Togo, set off on the longest and most dangerous part of the route. The team sprints over the shifting sea ice floating on Alaska’s Norton Sound.

This is the fastest path. We have to risk it!

FEBRUARY 1: The serum reaches musher Gunnar Kaasen. He and his lead dog, Balto, set out on the last part of the journey. A huge blizzard strikes.

Let’s go, Balto! We’ll run through the night if we have to!

Snow and wind blow so fiercely that Kaasen can barely see his dogs. Balto guides the team through the blinding storm himself.

FEBRUARY 2: An exhausted Kaasen arrives in Nome with the serum early in the morning.

We made it! Balto, you’re a fine dog!

Six people have already died from diphtheria in Nome. About 60 more
are still sick. Dr. Welch treats the patients with the lifesaving serum.

Two weeks later, a second relay brings more serum, ending the deadly outbreak.

Over a record-setting seven days, a total of 20 mushers and more than 150 dogs took part in the dash to Nome. The 600-mile trek became known as “The Serum Run.” People across the country celebrated the mushers and dogs as heroes. New York City put up a statue of Balto in Central Park to honor him and his fellow sled dogs.