We got up before the sun rose this morning in order to get some
breakfast and be able to get down the street where the crowds were already
starting to build for the start of the big race. Dick moved our car a few
blocks away so that we wouldn’t get trapped in the post-Iditarod traffic
jam. As Dick walked back, he could see that t he snow track was ready for the mushers. People were already gathering and it was a carnival atmosphere.
The street that was bare and basically empty a couple of days back was
now full of snow, thanks to the trucks bringing it in. As far back as we could see there were dog
trucks and mushers as well as excited fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their
favorite, grab an autograph or photo, or have the chance to see the dogs in
person. This free-for- all went on for
quite some time, then at about 9:00 the volunteers began to clear out the folks
without the official backstage passes.
We all then crowded behind wooden snow fences to wait for the fateful
hour of 10:00am. At this time, the
honorary 1st musher was announced, and the after this, every two
minutes a musher would be introduced with a brief bio. A large group of volunteers would help walk
(run) the dogs up to the starting line.
The musher would go down the line of up to 16 dogs giving them each a
scratch, a hug, or a supportive word,
Then 5,4,3, 2, 1 they’re off to Nome.
(Actually, today, just off for an 11 mile run through cheering crowds.
The real race starts on Sunday.)
They then started their easy ride thorough the city of Anchorage,
population about 250,000, plus a lot of dogs.
The noise of the dogs was loud today. These dogs are used to living and
running in the wilderness, so going through city streets with cars and horns
and shouting crowds is a nerve-wracking for the dogs and mushers alike.
The whole route would be lined with fans, and we took some time
finding some different vantage points.
Wow! This is such an exciting
time. In the past several years, we have
been able to watch it by live feed from the Internet, but now, here we are in
Anchorage!We moved from the starting line, to the upper floor of a parking garage, to a turn of the trail at a corner
where we could watching them turn, to a long straightaway with fewer people
watching. All spots gave a different perspectives, and we took hundreds of photos.
There was quite a camaraderie of people talking about different mushers,
and trying to identify who was coming next from the newspaper or various
programs or guides.
Children made a game
of trying to get the mushers to throw them some of the dog “booties”. These are small Velcro socks which they put
on all of the dogs to protect their feet. They generally have to be hand sewn
and cost about a buck a piece. So not
everyone wants to share these precious items with the crowds, but many did, and
we stood by some kids who were pros at collecting these.
Many in the crowd have their lists of the order of the mushers, so
that they (or we) could shout out, “Way to go Ailey” or, “Yah, Matthew! Have a great race!” Having gotten all of their autographs, as
well as having met some of them in a more personal manner in the past couple of
days, they are now more than just names to us, but people that we kinda
know….Some that we had spent more time with, like Dallas Seavey or Math Failor,
were especially fun to see and cheer for.
And we cheered hard for the mushers from Minnesota, California and Ohio.
Once all of the mushers were off, and we had our fill with soaking in
the ceremonial start of the race (which isn’t really racing yet, just a dry run
and a chance to soak in some cheers from the fans). Then we headed over to one of the gems in
Alaska The Native Alaskan Heritage Center.
This is a hopping place in the summer, but in the winter is only rarely open
rarely, but is open on Iditarod race day.
This pan-tribal center does amazing education for youth as well as
interpretation for the general public bout the different native Alaskan
groups. The place was beautiful with at
least a little snow still around. We
heard dancing, drumming and had the chance to walk around this lovely campus
with a couple of Native Alaskan high school student guides.
Then it was a race back into town for the “Run with The Reindeer”
event. This is styled after the Spanish
running with the bulls…much shorter and somewhat less dangerous. It had several different categories including
men, women, military, and tourists. The
idea was to dress up as crazy or silly as you can and then run through the
streets for a several blocks.
Nearly a dozen male reindeer were walked on leads to
one end, and then, a female in heat is brought out at the other end. It is a race for the reindeer trying to get
at the girl. The crowd walks and runs
along, trying to not get in the way of
the deer. The costumes -ran from superheros and people in jammies, to some semi-naked
folks to ones understood only by themselves and their friends. There were well
over 500 runners . Only in Alaska!
After dinner, we trudged back to the hotel room, knowing that we
needed to rest as well as get our writing and photo downloading going. We each shot over 1200 photos just today. That is a lot to deal with. Plus our hotel internet is a very slow
network, so we aren’t getting things posted as quickly as we would like, but
that is how it goes. Another amazing day
in Alaska.
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