Iditarod Day 2

We woke up again pretty early and had pancakes for breakfast, getting used to them now. After packing we headed to downtown where we rented a car to go to Willow, the actual start of the 40th Iditarod. Julien figured out how to drive with automatic gear pretty fast, though it was weird at first :). According to the weather forecast the day was supposed to be very beautiful in Willow, so we headed north with high expectations.

After 1,5 hours of driving we arrived in Willow and we were glad to notice the forecast was right: clear sky, sunshine and temperature -10 degrees, just perfect! Most of the mushers had already arrived in Willow Lake where the start was going to happen at 2 o’clock. We had a lot of time to walk around and take pictures of the mushers and their dogs, though we weren’t allowed to enter the musher area this time. We saw our favorites taking care of the dogs and feeding them as they were enjoying some picnic themselves, handlers sorting out of dog socks booties and all kinds of volunteers making sure everything was going smoothly. Lance introduced us to his main leader which appeared to be small hairy creature which maybe had a place in Lance’s sled… After couple hours of wandering we were hungry as well and enjoyed some reindeer hot dogs, cowboy fries and huge packet of popcorn.

Happy and with our stomachs full it was time to find a good spot for taking pictures. We found a nice place about hundred meters after the start line where we stayed watching most of the mushers starting their race and heading to Nome.

The trail seemed pretty soft so already at the beginning it was challenging for the mushers to keep the sled straight. But they also seemed to enjoy the start and they were waiving to people with big smiles. Dogs were pulling hard and they were excited to go! Some were so excited they messed up the lines just after the start :).

Ray Redington Jr.

William Pinkham

Tom Thurston

Jodi Bailey

Cim Smyth

Jeff King

Jeff King

And Aliy with the Red Team, good luck!

Go Aliy GO!

    
                                    
                                                           "What's that flag? Sweden?"

Pat Moon

DeeDee Jonrowe

Lance Mackey, our superstar

Go Mackey GO!

Hugh Neff

After we moved nearer to the start to see all the fuss and it seemed it needs many many handlers to get the team behind the start line and to wait the permission to start. We thought Ryne had a dream handler, Allen, and we were sure it would give her good luck for the race.

Ryne before the start with Allen

Mr Seavey, the last one to go was wearing number 100, to remind the anniversary year of the Iditarod trail. This Iditarod veteran who also raced the first Iditarod took his time in the start but we guess these veterans know what they are doing :). After him all the mushers had started their race and hopefully many of them will finish their race in Nome. We cheer for Lance, Aliy and Ryne but wish all the mushers the best of luck!

That was an amazing experience for both of us and we hope the pictures we took will give everybody at least a hint of an idea how it was to actually be there. A day to remember! But as we noticed, the day wasn’t over yet. On a way back the weather was still clear and we enjoyed some breath-taking landscapes of mountains around Anchorage. They deserve a post of their own, so you will see the pictures soon.

Iditarod Day 1

We woke up this morning thinking "finally Saturday the 3rd of March is here"!
It was the first day of Iditarod, a legendary sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome (this year via Northern Route: 964 miles). On Saturday the mushers and dogs have a ceremonial start in downtown and by auction fans can buy a ticket to have a ride in a sled. We have been waiting for the start for a long time and we knew some friends of our were excited to hear our stories from there :D.

After a pancake breakfast we got a ride to down town from a guy from Texas who was wondering why the Iditarod is so interesting for us. I think the excitement was easily read from our face!

In downtown the streets were filled with musher trucks and dogs were outside fastened to the trucks.

With over 60 mushers participating the race, you can imagine the streets were crowded. The mushers were taking care of the dogs, talking to people, having pictures with fans and giving autographs. Piia's first dream came true when she got a picture with her and Lance Mackey! He's a superstar, with 4 wins in a row in Iditarod and a big heart for his dogs. Go Mackey go!

Julien made himself and his friends very happy and got a picture of him and Dee Dee Jonrowe, another Iditarod legend who has finished the race several times. We have a lot of respect for her!

Among other mushers we also saw Martin Buser, Jeff King, Kristy Berington, Jake Berkowitz, Ryne Olson and many many exciting dogs. Finally we also met Allen Moore and Aliy Zirkle, the owners of SP Kennel in Two Rivers and got to talk to them and their handler Wes about the race, the dogs and mushing generally. It was so amazing to actually get to talk to the mushers that you have only seen in documents and movies! Like Hollywood of the mushing world! :)

The dogs were there around the trucks and many people cuddled them. We didn't want to disturb the super athletes so we settled for observing them. And some of them are very small! But like Wes from the SP Kennel said, the people who run the marathon aren't so big either! But you could definitely notice these dogs are fit and ready to work.

Then it was time to start. We found a good spot for taking pictures a couple of hundreds meters from the actual start.

We saw mushers passing us with strong dog teams and happy fans. It was snowing quite a bit but it was part of the atmosphere.

The Winner of the Jr. Iditarod Coonway Seavey

The ceremonial start

Jeff King, maybe thinking it's the finish line... :)

Aliy Zirkle with SP Kennel

The Red Team

Allen and Aliy

Pat Moon

The Pink Lady Dee Dee Jonrowe

DeeDee

And ladies and gentlemen: Lance Mackey!

This one is for Marie :) Hugh Neff

And for Julien :) Kristy Berington

Martin Buser

After all the 66 mushers had started the race we headed to get some posters and got warm cider and hot choco and amazing American cookies as well. For the main course we had reindeer sausage hot dogs, completed the awesome day!

Now we get ready for tomorrow, the actual starting day for the race, by eating pizza in our hostel :)...