For only the second time in its 43-year history, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is headed to Fairbanks, Alaska Dispatch News reports.

A unanimous decision to move the race start from Willow to Fairbanks was announced Tuesday night during a special meeting of the Iditarod board of directors and only hours after members returned from a flight to view potentially problematic sections of the traditional race trail.

The 1,000-mile sled dog race has been moved north only once before, in 2003, when poor snow coverage in Southcentral Alaska also forced organizers to move the restart to Fairbanks.