Going Beyond Balto, Film Shows Life-Saving Dog Run

A deadly epidemic had gripped a gold rush town in the impenetrable U.S. territory of Alaska nearly 90 years ago, transfixing the nation.

A cure existed, but there was no way to deliver it. There were no roads available, and air supply drops weren't an option.

The only solution was a nearly 700-mile sled dog relay to deliver a life-saving serum to those threatened by the 1925 diphtheria outbreak in the rugged coastal town of Nome.

A new film, "Icebound," documents the race against death and will debut at the Anchorage International Film Festival this week. The 95-minute picture is narrated by Patrick Stewart, and a national theatrical release is set for next spring.

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Balto, namesake star of a 1995 animated film about the outbreak, became famous out of scores of other dogs because he was a lead canine on the last leg of the first relay.

The dog was an unlikely hero. Balto was a freight dog owned by a champion musher of the time, Leonhard Seppala, a Norwegian who lived in Nome. But he never made Seppala's competitive teams of Siberian huskies because he was too slow.

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