Does every team that starts the race finish?
No. Every year a handful of mushers drop out of (scratch) the race. The reasons that a musher may scratch are varied, and tend to often be based in the musher being very tired or not feeling well. These feelings can make things seem worse than they really are, and lead to a musher deciding that he or she cannot finish. However, sometimes scratching is the right thing to do, especially if a musher is sensing that it would be in the best interests of his or her dogs. Sometimes mushers get hurt, and despite courageous efforts to continue with injuries, many mushers have decided (or had the race officials decide for them) that scratching is the best option.
