Iditarod 2012 Ceremonial Start

Fur Rondy is always the week before the Iditarod Dogsled Race.  Last blog showed you our wonderful Fur Rondy parade and some of the festivities.  These are the crown that use to be worn by the King and Queen of Fur Rondy.  Now they are in the Fur Rondy museum to be admired.  They are made out of beaver, wolf and fox fur.  The animals are all made from ivory then scrimshawed.  They are stunning up close.

Most people do not know that there is a Junior Iditarod Dogsled Race about 3 weeks prior to the main event.  This is a 500 mile race completed by 14 - 17 year old boys and girls. This year there were almost half of the junior mushers were female!!  Would you allow your teenager the freedom to mush 16 dogs through the mountains, race 24 hours a day, only to stop and feed the dog team,  protect themselves as well as the dogs from wild animals, and most important - NO CELL PHONES! Most of my friends don't let their children go to school without a phone.  No communication with your teen while they complete the race can be nerve racking!  The top 5 winners of the Junior Iditarod is awarded $13,000 in scholarships, there is good money for Sportsmanship and Humanitarian awards as well.  The winner of the Junior Iditarod is the lead team out of Anchorage and caries the Iditrod's honorary musher at the Ceremonial Start.  These young teens are amazing.  My family was lucky enough to meet Conrad Seavey on their visit to Alaska and he won last year.

My brother, Chip, arrived in Alaska just in time for the Iditarod.  I kept him busy cross country skiing, snow shoeing, hiking and visiting museums and many frequent stops at local bars.

We arrived downtown to watch the Ceremonial Iditarod Race 2012 just as Musher #26 - Michelle Phillips from Canada was heading out of town.  Notice the Idita-rider in her sled basket.  People bid to ride in these sleds for the Ceremonial Start.  Most Idita-riders pay $15,000 for the privilege to ride the 25 mile Ceremonial Start.

 

Is this amazing?  Everyone knows about Fantasy Football Leagues but not too many of you have the honor to participate in the Fantasy Musher Contest!  After my three years up here, I have learned one major item about Alaskans.  They make a competition out of almost every event!

Exxon Mobil is a proud sponsor of the Iditarod.  They provide a huge tent with free food and warm beverages.  This year's Iditarod poster is awesome.  Chip enjoyed the hot apple cider but didn't eat any cookies. He was saving himself for the famous Reindeer Sausage!

The dogs wore the Ceremonial vests to remind the public about the Diphtheria serum run from Anchorage to Nome in 1925. 
The 2012 Iditarod marks the 40th running of Iditarod on the 100 year old trail.  The Iditarod Trail was designated by the Congress from Seward on the south central coast to Nome on the Bering Sea.  It was a highway, a mail route, a gold avenue from the interior and now a recreational trail.  The Iditarod is 1049 miles of trail through wilderness, over mountains, down frozen rivers, across tundra and a challenge that is met by mushers every year. 
The Iditarod is a long distance race and the winner is determined by the time they run the race from start to finish line.  Fur Rondy Dog Sled Races are sprint races and the musher runs the same course several time (3 for Fur Rondy) and the times are added together to determine the winner.

The dogs bark nonstop until the brake hook is released and off they go.  These athletes are so powerful and all they want to do is RUN!!

There are 40  veterinarians along the Iditarod Trail. These vets have to be certified and many have specialties like cardiology, orthopedics and pathology.  The vets volunteer their time at the race.  Back in the days, veterinarians were thought to be the "police" of the race  and not well received by the mushers.  But over time the mushers and the veterinarians have developed a strong relationship because they both have the "Dog Athletes" as their number one priority.  Every dog is required to have a pre-race exam, EKG, blood work, parasite control, urine drug test and vaccines.  There is a vet at every checkpoint to exam every dog as they come into the check point. 

This is Hugh Neff - born in Tennessee and grew up in Chicago area - always wears his Dr. Seuss garb for the beginning and ending of the race.

I am sure you all have heard about the amount of snow Alaska has been receiving this year.  I feel responsible for this all time snowfall.  I said at the beginning of the school year, "Since it is my last year I want the coldest and most snow ever."  How true it is. We have had just shy of 200 inches of snow this winter and more sub zero days than ever before. The last record for snow fall was in 1977 and the last record for sub zero temps was in 1990.  There was a crew still trying to clear the roads during the Iditarod race.  This man is clearing the sidewalks so the visitors and spectators could walk safely.

The 40th Anniversary of the Iditarod Dog Sled Race made big time news around the world.  It was fun standing next to the spokesperson as he called the "sled by sled" play.

This is James.  He is the "Official Iditarod Starter".  He is dressed in his "furs" and takes his position very seriously.  James holds his hand up to keep the "sled to go" at bay and when he lowers his arm the dogs get to go to the start line.  The dogs are watching James as well as they are being held by dog handlers to keep them from running.  Dog teams are released from the start line every 2 minutes. Pacing is important for an endurance race.


Here is a little bit about the food for the dogs and mushers.  The dogs eat 11,000 - 15,000 calories of food a day while running the race. That would take a HUMAN about 2 1/2 years to consume!  The dogs travel about 8 - 10 miles per hour during the race.  At every check point there is 17,640 POUNDS of food for the dog team and musher.  That does not include the 79 bales of hay required of each musher throughout the race. 

I bet you are wondering does all this food and hay get taken on the sled?  No, there is an Iditarod Air Force that sometimes is called the Iditarod's Trail in the Sky.  There was only one pilot during the first Iditarod in 1973.  Larry Thompson flew his small Cessna from check point to checkpoint with food and supplies for each dog team.  He would bring back any dog that had to be dropped from the dog team as well.  He flew so many missions and the next year a few more pilots helped out.  Eventually there are about 20 pilots now that help deliver supplies and food on the trail.

This tasty treat is frozen fish, pork and some chicken.  The bags are marked with the mushers name.  When they stop to feed the dogs, the food is boiled in water and then given to the dogs along with rice, and some fat.

Dog team leaving Anchorage.  This year the city did not have to bring in snow for the race.

This is Hank Debruin from Ontario, Canada.

The last musher out of Anchorage this year was Ryan Reddington.  His bib number is 67 and his brother, Ray Reddington Jr,was bib number 2.  The boys were the "bookends" for the race.  This was significant since it is the 40th running of the race AND Joe Reddington organized, did the fund raising, recruited mushers, got the food to the check points.  Joe Reddington did not run the first Iditarod because he was still trying to get funds for the winner.  As it turned out in 1973, Joe could only get enough money for the first two mushers.  The third musher crossed the Nome finish line a few seconds behind the second musher and then was told, "Dan, you have a job waiting for you after the race and unfortunately, I have no winning money for you."

The other big activity that takes place in Anchorage for the first two weeks in March is our Winter Carnival.  Most of the states in the lower 48 have their carnivals in the spring - early fall.  We have ours during the coldest part of the winter. 

This little girl is about to participate in the Blanket Toss. The blanket toss is a critical skill of the Native villages.  The village will pick the young person to be tossed in the air to see over the piles of snow or hills to see if the seals or whale are in the bay.  They will also be tossed to let the village know the hunters (seal or whale) are are the way back to the village so get prepared to harvest the animal.

If you look closely at this picture, the gentleman standing to the right of the Orange Jacket is my brother, Chip.  He stepped up to the call for volunteers to "tighten" the seal skin (blanket) so the person will go high in the air.  You pull the seal blanket (skin) towards your body to make it taunt and then begin a rhythm and on the count of 1,2,3, toss the person in the air.

There she goes!  At the carnival the toss is just for fun.  In the villages the small person stays on their feet and tries to get as high as possible and then they usually land on their feet.  Very rarely do the village children land on their bottoms.

Chip, Beth, Niki and I enjoyed the carnival.  Beth and I rode the Ferris Wheel.  I was scared to death.  Some of you may know that I get very motion sick and I have no idea what possessed me to say yes to this ride.  SCARY!

No way was I riding this ride!

The official artist of the Iditarod is Jon Van Zyle.  Beth and I have quite a collection of his books for our students because he talks about the way of life for Alaskans and Village people.  Beth was pleading for Jon to come to her class room since her class just finished a HUGE unit on the Iditarod.  Beth told him he wouldn't have to drive far since he lives in Chugiak (next to Eagle River).

We wondered over to the snow sculptures after the carnival.  These large chunks of snow were delivered on Feb 25 and the teams had 24 hours to finish the sculpture.  You can see the walrus on the bottom and there are several levels of the different sea animals on a piece of ice.

Polar bear and cub waiting for the ice to freeze over.

An ice cream sundae!  Don't you love the kuspah on the little girl.  Parky is another name for her beautiful jacket. It was red velvet lines with fur and a fox fur ruff on the hood.

And what would an ice sculpture contest be without at least one odd bird.  This is Don Quixote in person.  His costume was part of the "Fashion show of raw materials".  Every thing in the fashion show was from around the house.  Don Quixote's outfit was made out of recycled beer cans, soda cans, furs, and ice skates.  His ice skates were frozen into a block of ice.  Imagine walking around town wearing skates that are stuck in chunks of ice.  Niki (in the background) couldn't stop smiling at Don Quixote.

One evening Chip and I went to the Iditarod headquarters at the Millennium Hotel.  This artist was there and we were both awestruck by this canvas.  It was about 8 foot by 8 foot.  Ginormous and gorgeous.  Chip asked if he could take a picture of her canvas and she agreed.  She was only painting a limited number so I was surprised she let him take the photo.  I am sharing it with you.

Look closely in the dog's eyes.  You will see a musher and his team in the eyes as well as across the nose.  The artist will add the dog harnesses and musher number when the Iditarod winner is called.  See no harness nor gang lines connecting the dogs to the sled.

This was another awesome Iditarod for me.  Being the 40th anniversary there are a lot of extra items, events and celebrations.  I am so glad I got to share it with my brother.

Anchorage now has about 12 hours of sunlight. Within a week we will be heading towards 13 hours of sun.  I know you all remembered to turn your clocks forward which gave you a bit more sunlight to finish golf after working. 

The next blog is about the Iditarod Official Start in Willow, AK.  I hope you have enjoyed learning a bit about "The Last Great Race".  I learn something new every year. 

Until I return in May,

Sheryl

The Nanuq of the North

Iditarod Official Start 2012

Another beautiful day in Alaska and we are greeted by Eagles.  Usually a Native lady feeds the eagles at the Lions Club parking lot on Sundays.  Today she must have been running a bit late but we had to head to Willow for the Official start of the Iditarod.

My friend let us park at her cabin again this year.  You can see another example of our huge snowfall by the amount of snow on the outhouse. Dennis and Debbie have cleared the snow from the roof top two times already this year.  The white snow keeps on falling. 

Even the birdhouse had snow build up that prevented birds from entering.

We snowshoed out to the end of Long Lake to watch the dog teams head to Nome.  We were so glad we had snow shoes.  Chip stepped over the snow bank and he was hip high in snow.  It was fun watching him squirm his way out of the snow.  Then we all put on our snow shoes. Beth, Chip, Austin and Sheryl watching the dog teams and enjoying the beautiful sun and blue skies.

And they are off!!! I will post a lot of mushers on this blog.  There are so many favored to win mushers I want to share their picture with you so you can cheer them on as well.  This years race will be another record breaking year.  John Baker did the 1049 mile race in 8 days 16 hours last year.  That is a fast record!  The second place finisher was one day behind John Baker.  In the 70's the race took 24+ days to complete.  With technology, better equipment, stronger dog teams, and putting the Iron Dog Race in front of the Iditarod the trail is better and allows for faster times.  The Iron Dog Race is a snow machine race, I will post next week, that goes from Willow to Nome and then to Fairbanks.  The snow machines pack down the snow and create a trail that the dogs can use to run to Nome. 

This is Ray Reddington, Jr.. His grandfather, Joe, is the founder of the Iditarod Race. Ray is 36 and likes to describe himself as "dad, musher, hunter and fisherman".

What I found interesting is Ray's snow pants.  They are just like my motorcycle chaps!  Ray and I have great taste in chaps.  He said it allows him access to his pant pockets.  I think on a dog sled it would be pretty darn cold!

I love to see the snow on the nose of the dog.  This is what happens to all the dogs that are not the lead dogs!  Iditarod dogs are Alaskan huskies.  They are not big and furry but small and lean.  They weigh about 35 - 40 pounds each.  They usually come from a long line of Iditarod dogs with good running and pulling skills.  Iditarod dogs train 24/7 every day of the year except the week after THE RACE.  They get to rest and relax for a week.  According to the musher they usually want to do some training every day.  The dogs in the kennel work out one day and then take and easy train the next two days. 

While I went out to "High 5" Jeff King, he asked if I would help him.  Of course I said YES!!!  He said stand on my brake hook and hold right here on the sled.  You can see he has a booties in his mouth to put on one of his dog. Jeff King is 55 years old and has won the Iditarod 4 times.  He has three daughters and they all have run the Junior Iditarod and his daughter, Cali, finished the Iditarod.  It is definitely a way of life and in the blood!

I don't weigh as much as Jeff and when we was busy putting the booties on the lead dog the sled started inching forward.  I got nervous.  I didn't want to be responsible for this 4 time winner not getting a good start so I called on my recruit - Chip.  "CHIP GET OVER HERE QUICKLY AND HELP"!

It took both of us to hold the dog team still.

Here is Jeff putting a booties on his lead dog.  Each musher goes through about 600 booties during the Iditarod Race.  Booties help protect the dogs feet from ice and sharp conditions.  Clear ice is like glass shards on the dog paw and the booties protect them and provide a little bit of traction on wet areas.

Gee Jeff, do you have to put my booties on right now? No other team member has booties on.

#14 is Aliy Zirkel, 41 from New Hampshire and is running in her 12th Iditarod.  She has been in the lead several times this race.  Go get them Aliy!!!

Aliy has an interesting sled seat.  It is a 5 gallon bucket bound by duct tape.  These seats sit on the runners behind the musher and gives them a chance to sit and continue riding and sometimes they take their naps on the seat.

#17 is DeeDee Jonrowe from Willow, Alaska.  DeeDee is 58 and born in Germany.  This is DeeDee's 33rd Iditarod Race.  She loves mushing because she gets to bond with all the Alaskan cultures. 

Chip is enjoying his first Iditarod in Willow!

#8  is Cim Smyth is 35 years old and cute - that is why he is on the blog.

A great athlete.  I had no idea their tongues were so long.  The dogs will frequently lick a pile of snow to take in water to cool them down.

This is #31 - Kristi Berington, 28, from Kasilof, Alaska. This is Kristi's fourth Iditarod. You might remember my picture of Kristi at the finish line in Nome last year.  She was the musher feeding her dogs with frozen fish.

#6 - Jodi Bailey, 42, from New England with degrees from Emory.  Who would have known that Emory graduate would be running the Iditarod.  Jodi was the first rookie in history to successfully complete both the Yukon Quest and Iditarod in the same year.  This is her second Iditarod.

Below is #32, Anjanette Steer, passing musher #29, Jake Berkowitz.  I have never seen a musher pass another musher before and this was exciting.  The official ruling for passing is the musher had to yell to let the musher know you want to pass, then the musher has to slow down to let the pass occur.  Once the pass is complete, the passed musher must wait 1 minute before moving.  This gives the mushers a chance not to get the dogs tangled.

Iditarod 40 has a first to it.  It is the first time in the race history that a set of twins are running the race. This is Anna Berington, 28, the twin of Kristi. Anna is a rookie this year!  Anna and Kristi will be running the race almost side by side - at least so far in the race they are running together.

Anna is Chip's favorite to win.  He got to give her a "high 5" and he didn't want to wash his hand afterwards.

Along with the dog teams there is a "safety/rescue" team.  These snow machines are loaded with emergency supplies in case of an accident or major oops.  It is nice to know there is someone close (within a couple of hours) if you need them.

Beth is getting a hand shake from Dallas Seavey (#31).  Dallas is 25 years old and is the son of a long line of mushers. 

#35, Mitch Seavey, 52, has run 11 Iditarod races and won in 2004.  Mitch's son, Dallas are running this years race and Conway ran the Junior Iditarod Race.

#37, Scott Jansenn, 50, is the Mushing Mortician.  You can see his famous Mushing Mortician seal on the back of his jacket.  When Scott took off at the Ceremonial Start the announcer said, "Scott hopes to win but if he doesn't he doesn't want to finish DEAD last."  I know it made national news, but along the race, one of Scott's sled dog had health trouble.  He administered mouth to snout CPR on his dog.  The dog survived and was shipped, Iditarod Air Fleet, back to Anchorage to the dog drop.  Any dog that is separated from the team comes back here and we, I volunteered for Dog Drop this year.  We meet the plane with the dogs, warm them up, feed them, walk them, clean up poop, and keep them comfortable until they are transported.  The dogs are taken to the Women's Prison where the ladies take extra special care of the dogs until the race ends and the dog is reunited with this team and musher.

This is #47, Kirk Barnum from Idaho.  His team stopped right in front of us so he can secure a bootie and untangle the gang line.  I will tell you about the dog team positions since you can see all 16 dogs.

The dogs positions are given their position relative to the sled.   Lead dogs steer the rest of the team and set the pace for the race. The lead dog has to be very smart because one of the jobs of the lead dog is to find the trail in bad conditions.  Swing dogs are directly behind the lead dogs.  Their job is to swing the rest of the team during a turn.  Wheel dogs are closest to the sled and must have an easy temperament because they should be startled having the sled moving around behind them.  Wheel dogs are usually the largest dogs of the team.  Team dogs are all the other dogs between the swing dogs and wheel dogs and add power to the team. What I found amazing is these dogs learn to go to the bathroom and doze while they are running.

Two of Kirk's dogs decided he was too slow and wanted to get moving.  They barked and yipped at each other and the minute the gang line went loose they turned and ran forward.

#60 is Rick Swenson, 61, and has won the Iditarod 5 times!!!!  You might remember Rick from last year when he had to drop out of the race because he cut his hand trying to open a bag of hay.  His hand is healed and he is ready to win #6.

Isn't this a beautiful athlete?

She is so pretty in her pink harness.

Chip couldn't believe how wonderful it was being in Alaska at the 40th running of the Iditarod.

#57 is Silvia Furtwangler from Norway.

Hey, don't you like my Under Armor?  I am too sexy for my jersey.

I got my Under Armor on too buddy.  You are not the only handsome one!

#100 is also #65, Dan Seavey.  Dan is 74 and he gets to wear the Honorary bib #100.  Dan is the ONLY musher in this 40th Iditarod to have completed in the first Iditarod in 1973.  What an honor it was to see Dan behind a sled and racing.  Good luck Dan.

The mushers are off and may the best team cross the Burled Arch first in Nome.  See you there next week.
Chip, Beth and I are getting ready to head back to the car.

One last look at two beautiful athletes.

Notice how deep the snow is today.  I can get lost when the snow piles are so high no one can see me.

Austin put his snow shoes on the snow pile.

Chip was lucky again when he asked a store owner if he could take a picture of Jeff King's artwork.  Jeff thought he was going to retire last year but he was so bored he is back mushing.  His wife is the artist and this was to commemorate Jeff's mushing career.  The dog closest to the center of the picture

was Jeff's first sled dog which died in the house fire.

When I tell you we have snow I am not kidding. I have never been in Alaska when this much snow melts.  I can't wait to see how green all the shrubs will be and brilliant colors of the flora because of the snow melt.

This is the end of the beginning of the 40th Iditarod.  I hope you enjoy.  Please go on line (Iditarod.com) and catch a glimpse of who is in the lead of "The Last Great Race".

Until next blog

Be Strong and have Courage to do what your heart and mind tell you.

Sheryl

Nanuq of the North