“The toughest race ever devised…”
When the race organizers decided in November, 1907 that they would organize “the longest, toughest race ever devised,” they succeeded; notwithstanding the original plan to require the teams to drive the entire distance westward from New York City to Paris, France “without the use of a boat.”
Occasionally, the narrow body of water between Alaska and Russia froze over in the winter time and when it did, the racers needed to be there to make the perilous journey across the ice. The prospect of a winter crossing, forced the event organizers to schedule the start of the “Greatest Auto Race” for the dead of winter, February 12, 1908.
The 1907 Thomas Flyer was the first team to reach Valdez, Alaska where they learned that driving to the Bering Straight was impractical due to high snow drifts. The organizers reconsidered and directed the participants to head to San Francisco where they caught a ship to Japan, and then on to Vladivostok, Russia . The Thomas Flyer caught up with the other teams after traveling by boat from Seattle, Washington.