This year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will be the first for its new CEO Rob Urbach, who took over in July.

In recent years, the Iditarod has struggled with sponsors pulling out, a so-called "dog-doping" scandal and accusations that its board of directors had conflicts of interest. In the meantime, the board has been overhauled and expanded, and there have been some new race rules put in place, as the Iditarod grapples with various issues and increased scrutiny.

Urbach came to the Iditarod after six years as CEO of USA Triathlon and, previously, had worked in sports marketing and management.

Now at its helm, Urbach says he first became a fan of the Iditarod about 20 years ago.