Run with Reindeer - March 2011

The Running with the Reindeer is the afternoon events after all the Iditarod Dog Teams have left downtown.  There are the infamous Outhouse Races, Reindeer Hot Dogs (very very tasty), The pet and owner Look A Like Contest, Snowball (just like softball but wearing snowshoes) Game, and much much more. So this year I thought I would accomplish another first, Run with the Reindeer. Not as dangerous as Running with the Bulls in Spain but just as much fun. 

First a little site seeing and photography shots of the days events.  Here is another little Native selling her Girl Scout cookies. They taste great up here but we pay $5 per box. A bit more than in the Lower 48.  She was raising money to attend a fish camp this summer. We donated to her cause and gave the cookies to some other little kids nearby. 

Here is a local on his new FLAT tire bike.  He has about 15 miles on it and this hybrid costs about $2400.  Take a look at the close up of those tires. They are 8 inches wide and the chain stuff is incredible.  The wheel rims were so neat. I don't know if you can see it, but there are holes with light blue circle cut out of the rim. They reflect and just look cool.  No studs, unlike Ben's bike he uses for transportation and because Ben's tires are a bit small in width he has to have his tires with studs for traction. 

Can you see those neat blue dots?  They are just decorative and make the bike somewhat less heavy.

As you can see from Anchorage, Honolulu and Chicago are about the same distance from here.  So my question is this.  How come we can fly from Anchorage to Hawaii for $300 round trip and to fly to Chicago costs about $900 round trip.  Doesn't seem right.  I think the airlines need to get it together.  I am proud to announce that Alaska Air now travels from Alaska to the East Coast and down to the Texas. Anyone up for a trip to Alaska?

Some little kids made this when they got bored watching the mushers take off from the start.  As you can see, not much snow on the ground. The dump trucks were do busy hauling snow down from the mountains to pile on the streets so the dog teams had snow to get out of town.

These are the newest snow shoes available.  This guys showed us how strong this blow up plastic was.  He took a nail and jammed it into an inflated snowshoe and it didn't loose any air. It is very strong PVC or some kind of plastic. I am sure he told us but I was still investigating the nail hole and the lack of air loss. The advantage of these snow shoes is they collapse to a small pack and lightweight to carry.  Very cleaver. Just think, you might be looking at the newest snowshoe rigs of the future.

Here is a snow baby carriage.  The front wheel is flipped up but I noticed this family used the tilt method to get the carriage from place to place.

Here is David's and my matching summer outfits for around the pool.  I asked if the bra came in small cup sizes and they said, One size fits all.  Who are they kidding?  I guess they make the man's one size fits all as well so the ego isn't offended!


The jock strap is a deal $60 and the girls two piece is $120.  Want me to pick you up a matching set?

Another event before Running with the Reindeer is the Antique Snow Machine contest.  They have a three block track to race.  There is every kind of machine out there.  These are the oldest ones I was able to get photos of before the event. 

Then it is time for Running with the Reindeer. You are encouraged to dress up.  Once again, Alaska does every event with a costume.  The crazier the costume the more TV time you receive.  First, every one gathers at the far end of the street.  Then there are three herds to run - The Men, The Women and the Teams or Others.  That was us. Others - Herd 3.

Here Niki and I are with Beth's parents, getting ready to meander to the start line.  Gumby joined us at the start along with these other people.  I like the fish man.

These are some new recruits for the ARMY.  Doesn't it just figure?  They came dressed like this and had no idea what to expect.  We were told to be at the start line at 3:30 and the race would be 4:00.  Well, the race stuff, DJ talk, thanking of the sponsors, Singing of the National Anthem, Chit Chat about the minus 10 degrees and how many are from out of town, etc.  Needless to say, we stood around until 4:45.  They were frozen.  But fun to watch.

Then the DJ called all the men to the front to run the Man Herd.  The DJ called the front line, the Teeny Weeny Brigade, or the Shrinky Dinks Squad.  Did I mention how cold it was?

And of course, here are the stars of the race. This year the Reindeer were a bit feisty. They wanted to run not be lead to the start line. No person or Reindeer has ever been hurt in this event. It cost $25 and there had to be at least 200 people in each herd. That is a lot of money donated to the Army's Toys for Tots program.

Ready Set RUN!!!!!! Here comes the Reindeer. What really happens is the humans get an 8 second start and then they unleash the reindeer.  The Reindeer just want to get to the finish line to get their treats.  They forget they are going to be led back to the start to do it again 2 more times.

Here comes Herd 3!

So this was the end of a wonderfully amazing day. Helping Lance Mackey with his dogs and then Running with the Reindeer. In case you don't know who Lance Mackey is, it would be like helping Michael Jordan prepare for a basketball Championship game. Lance is a 4 time Yukon/Iditarod Champion trying to go for 5 wins. Unfortunately, many of the dogs in the Iditarod are sufferings from Kennel cough and being Dog Dropped back to Anchorage.  Lance is currently in 5th place but he only has 9 dogs.  Mitch Seavey, had to drop out because when he was cutting open the bale of hay for his dogs he almost sliced off his fingers on his hand.  Rick Swenson his continuing the race with a broken collar bone. He can't receive medical assistance so he created a  shoulder harness for two extra dog harnesses.  These sled dogs and mushers are incredible athletes.  I can't wait to get there on Wednesday and take photos as they cross the burl arches with frozen snow faces on both the dogs and mushers.  I will be working with the dogs teams and signing postcards and letters to the Iditarod and serve the mushers at the banquet.  I hope to take some great pictures there.  I want to remind you all that the Tsunami waves did not reach higher than 4 feet high in Dutch Harbor and Prince William Sound. Nothing in Anchorage.  Our hearts and prayers go out to the families in Japan.  Please be safe and keep dreaming big and don't forget to add one new thing to your bucket list this week. We have had 3 wonderful days of Northern Lights dancing across our skies . Spectacular is the only word I can use.

Hugs from the North.  Sheryl the Nanuq.

Iditarod 39 - OMG !!!

This is the beginning for the 2011 Iditarod race.  It is day one, or the Ceremonial Start in downtown Anchorage.  The weather is sunny, and about 20 degrees. A bit warm for the dog athletes and just right for the mushers.  Oh My Gosh what a day. I was selected to handle the dogs for Lance Mackey. He is a four time Iditarod winner. He also is the only musher to win the Yukon Quest (1050 miles towards Canada) and then two weeks later win the Iditarod (1050 miles to Nome).  It was so exciting. 

The athlete waiting for the race to begin.  This year I was a dog handler and was able to go anywhere I wanted. Next to mushers, pet the dogs, ask mushers lots of questions and ask for our pictures to be taken. I learned so much.  This is one of many dogs and at this time (8 a.m.) the dogs are sitting around somewhat quietly and waiting for their meal. The meal is a warm broth of with some stuff in it.  Yum!

This is one of many sleds you will see. Some sleds are short vs long, some are wooden vs aluminum, some are covered and some are not.  Each musher has their reason for which sled they use.  Since this is the ceremonial start, each musher has an Iditarider. This person has bid to ride in the sled from Anchorage to Campbell Creek Center.  I tried to bid on Angie Taggerts sled.  She is a teacher and she is running her first Iditarod and using Jeff King's dog sled. Jeff is in Sweden trying to round up more sponsors and mushers for next year's Iditarod.  Almost all the Iditariders paid $7500 to ride for 25 miles. 

This is the Iditarider for a musher. He is from Florida.  He borrowed all the furs and boots to make the ride.

These are some warm boots!  They are hand made by a lady from a Bush Village.  In the olden days, the ladies chewed the sinew to make it pliable for sewing.

This cute little girl is from Bethel. A bush village.  She is in 2nd grade. She just arrived in Anchorage with her grandmother.  In true Native manner, I asked a question and she looked at her grandparent before she answered. I asked if I could take her picture and she waited for her grandmother to nod before I took her picture. She was very curious to see her picture on the camera.  Most native have never seen themselves in a picture. I wish I had a portable printer to give them a photo for them to keep.  This is the seal/beaver hat I wore in my last blog.  I had quite a few people write asking how dark my hair was and what kind of hairstyle was I wearing.  I had on this hand made (by a Native) beaver (front) and spotted seal (side and back) hat.  It was so warm. My neighbor is letting me take it to Nome to wear to keep me warm.  This is the infamous Dee Dee Jonrowe.  She is an awesome athlete and terrific women.  I have never met anyone who who hasn't said anything but positive and kind words about her. Last year she ran the Iditarod for her mom. Dee Dee is a breast cancer survivor and her mother was finishing her breast cancer treatments when Deedee went on the race. 

This is the Seavey Family.  Mitch, father, in the middle and his son, Dallas on the right.  Dallas beat his father in last year's Iditarod.  Dallas hopes to win this year to join his father as a past winner. 

This is Waddie McDonald the musher from Scotland. He is known for wearing his kilt.  Don't you love the dogs jackets - red plaid.  All 16 dogs had these wonderful jackets on. 

This is Michael Williams, an Alaskan Native, and his family rides with him as he heads towards the starting line.

I was able to get an up close photo of the dog trucks. These dogs are just so relaxed and yet they know they can't wait to run to Nome.  Look how they just sit and look back at me.  I still have to think how amazing it is that these dogs are so sleek ad muscle bound vs big and bulky huskies. Most of these dogs are bred to run and it is not uncommon for a team to include several sets of siblings.

This is the Mushin Mortician - Scott Janseen.  When he graduated from college his sister make him a cake that had a dog sled team pulling a coffin. This was his dream, Iditarod, and his career, mortician.  He is quite a funny guy.  I got my picture taken with him but I love his mushing patch.

Don't you just love the Kennel sign.  Yellow Snow Dog sled rides and tours.  Aren't those beautiful dogs.  The one on the left runs in the middle of the pack and the one on the right is a wheel dog, closest to the sled.  Wheel  dogs are the bulk dogs and pull but typically are not very smart.  Sounds like most athletes huh?

This is Angie Taggert, a fellow teacher running her first Iditarod. As of today she is hanging in there. She still has all her dogs. If you have watched the Iditarod standings (Iditarod.com) this is a bit strange race. Apparently the weather is so warm, about 30, and the dogs are having a hard time running in this warm weather. As I stated, they like and run best about zero - minus 20 degrees.  Plus kennel cough seems to be taking quite a few dogs. Then the musher has to "dog drop" their dog. This means they load the dog on a float plane and send it back to Anchorage. Then the Dog Drop team (I hope to work it next year) cares for the returned dogs until they are loaded on a truck and sent to the ladies prison in Eagle River.  At this location the dogs are well cared for and nursed back to health and loved.  Quite a nice process.

This was a patch worn by an entire group of fans.  They made the trip from Southern Africa to see how the Iditarod Race is run.  They practice sled dog racing on dirt roads in Africa.  I am sure we will see one of their mushers in the near future.

OMG!   It's Lance Mackey, Sheryl and Niki.  We were his dog handlers for the Iditarod.  Here we are getting the dogs and the sled with Lance to the start line. What you haven't seen is we RAN with these dogs for almost 7 blocks. That is a long distance for a human tugging a muscular professional race dog! It was so hard.  I thought I was in shape, I lift plenty of weights and yet I couldn't hold these dogs to a walk or trot. They pulled me all the way. At the point where Lance was hooking up his dogs, I said, "Lance, this one has almost chewed through is guide line." He said he would fix it at the start.  Okay but I was confused. And of course, I lost the dog on the way to the start. He did chew through the rope and I went to catch him but he wrapped around my legs.  The professional handler (paid Mackey employee) took over my other leash and let me get untangled and then rejoined the team almost at the start line.  I am so glad the dog didn't run away into the crowd.  All these dogs want to do is run so it would not be unheard of if they kept running for hundreds of miles.

I am petting Bruiser before they got hooked on the gang line. This is Maple. She won the Golden Harness Award 2010.  This great honor is awarded to the most outstanding dog of the race. Maple has been Lance's lead dog for years.  Isn't that quite the honor to wear her golden harness?  Unfortunately, this year, Maple has been placed on the "dog drop" and sent back to Anchorage after 3 days.  She had a "funny run" and Lance didn't want to end her career so it was a difficult decision to send her home.

I can not tell you what an honor it was to work with such a wonderful man and an amazing dog team.  I was so nervous about stepping on their feet as they pulled me to the start line.  It was a chance of a lifetime.  I will post the Restart of the Iditarod 39 in Willow next. I had the dubious honor to be about 4 miles from the start and on Crystal Lake and shook hands with many of the mushers as they passed in front of us.  You will love those photos I am sure.  I am still pinching myself about this experience. 

I hope you all are doing well. David had a terrific time in Daytona at Bike (motorcycle) Week. Safe trip there and back. Thank you big brother, Russ and wonderful wife, Tracy, for keeping tabs on David and taking wonderful pictures. Thank you Ron and Cathy for getting David home safely every night.  My son, Tyler, is skiing in Colorado and Jensina is touring Italy with Morgan. Those two girls will have plenty of stories to share with us.  They did get a bit lost their first day in Italy. It was harder to communicate to the locals than they expected. But in traditional Warmbold method, Jensina found a way to get the correct directions to the train and hotel and all is well!!!

Hugs to you all. Don't forget to set your clocks back this weekend. I am hoping to wake up at 3 a.m. to view the Northern Lights tonight.  The forecast is good for it. I will have to drive into the mountains to view it out of the town lights.

Hugs from Nanuq of the North.