ANCHORAGE, Alaska — No one who races sled dogs is going to get filthy rich anytime soon, even if they win Alaska’s 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The prize for winning the sport’s premier race is only $50,400 and a new truck.

That doesn’t even cover the annual dog food bill for many competitive mushers, who keep dozens of dogs in professional kennels geared to breed the sturdiest, fastest runners.

Many mushers rely on sponsors, part-time work and prizes from smaller races to maintain a passion being played out this week in the Iditarod.

Four-time champion Lance Mackey is leading the race to Nome.

Mackey pulled into the checkpoint at Ophir at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday and quickly got his team back on the trail.

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Angie Taggart tends to Carmack at the Rohn checkpoint in Alaska during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 5, 2013. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bill Roth) Photo by

In this March 5, 2013 photo, Iditarod rookie Christine Roalofs arrives at the Rohn checkpoint in Alaska during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bill Roth) Photo by

Dan Coyro

People from the Athabaskan village of Nikolai, Alaska, take a look at the Iditarod sled dog teams parked on the banks of the Kuskokwim River on Tuesday, March 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Bill Roth, Anchorage Daily News) Photo by

Koji Sasahara