Long before the legendary Iditarod Dog Sled Race was first run in 1973, a more important race took place in Alaska. On January 21, 1925, the lives of countless children in Nome were at stake. An epidemic of diphtheria had broken out, and the gold rush city did not have a sufficient amount of antitoxin. Dr. Curtis Welch telegraphed Fairbanks, Anchorage, Seward, and Juneau, asking for help. There were 300,000 units of the serum at a hospital in Anchorage, and it was the only serum in the entire state.

The problem was to get it to Nome in the shortest time possible. With the Bering Sea frozen and no railroad or roads extending to Nome's remote location, dog teams were the only solution. The hospital packed the 300,000 units were packed in an insulated container and transported them to Nenana on an overnight train.

Once the serum arrived, a 674-mile relay race by dog teams awaited. Mushers who delivered the mail normally covered that distance in a month. The first musher took the insulated cylinder of serum 52 miles, where he passed the lifesaving baton to the second musher, who traveled 31 miles. From musher to musher the relay continued until a total of 20 dog-sled drivers had cooperated to get the needed medicine to Nome by February 2nd. The lifesaving serum arrived in only 127 ½ hours due to the cooperative effort of individuals willing to brave the austere Alaskan wilderness, sub-zero temperatures, and blinding blizzards.

This life-saving mission is a picture of how God works through many people over time to bring salvation to those who need it. These heroes of the faith include godly grandparents, Sunday school teachers, faithful friends, spiritual mentors.