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