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