2011 Iditarod winner's prize money (purse)

2011 Iditarod prize money FAQ: How much money does the Iditarod race winner win?

I've been digging around, and found some more 2011 Iditarod prize money ("purse") information. As mentioned in my earlier Iditarod prize money article, the total Iditarod purse for 2011 is $528,000. This is down from a record high of $875,000 in 2008. (This information came from the MSNBC website.)

Additionally, the 2011 Iditarod winner will receive a prize of $50,400, which is the same as last year. They'll also get a new truck. I'm not sure if they win this truck, but I saw it parked at the Iditarod start in Willow, Alaska on Sunday, so I'm assuming the Iditarod winner gets this Dodge Ram 1500 truck, or one very similar to it:

I just looked at the Dodge Ram prices, and that truck starts at $21,875, so that's a nice addition to the $50,400 Iditarod winner's prize.

2011 Iditarod prize money by position

After more digging around ... I found the details on how the 2011 Iditarod prize money (purse) is split between the top thirty mushers. The first ten mushers to finish the 2011 Iditarod get these prize money payouts:

1. $50,400
2. $46,300
3. $42,500
4. $38,900
5. $35,600
6. $32,600
7. $29,800
8. $27,300
9. $24,900
10. $22,700

That prize money scale continues down until the Iditarod musher who finishes in 30th place takes home a purse of $1,500.

(I found this information on the adn.com website.)

For the record, the 2011 Iditarod field consists of 62 mushers, including forty-six Alaska mushers; eight from the Lower 48; and eight from outside the U.S., including Canada, Scotland, Norway, New Zealand and Jamaica. Forty-seven men and fifteen women started the Iditarod, and thirteen of the mushers are rookies.

Some of this information came from this MSNBC article.