Iditarod sled dog race ceremonial start [View All]

Today was the ceremonial start of the 1100-mile Iditarod sled dog race from Anchorage (or Willow, actually) to Nome. They always do a "fun run" on the day before here in town and then start the real race the next day. Basically today was just a big block party with lots of barking dogs, autograph-signing mushers, free hot chocolate, and an 11-mile run. Here are a few pix...

This is DeeDee Jonrowe, who has been running the Iditarod (among other races) since 1980 and has had 13 top 10 finishes. She has the fastest time ever by a woman and survived breast cancer in 2003 to run again. She's really quite a hero up here, a very gutsy woman.



The first of 83 teams



Hyper dogs ready to run. All the dogs are so excited to get out on the trail, pulling and jumping, barking their heads off.









The next generation



Four-time winner Martin Buser, who also holds the fastest ever time for the Iditarod, eight days and some hours.



HullBoss, dog handler



Tomorrow we're driving out to Willow for the restart, and I'll try to position myself to get some good action shots. We have to get out there very early since Jim is a volunteer, so I should be able to find a good spot.