On February 25, I posted a contest titled Idita-Picks. Idita-Picks is a contest for participants to make predictions on which mushers will make it to certain checkpoints first. We will review the checkpoints. 1. First team to the halfway point – Huslia 2. First team to the coast – Unalakleet 3. First team to the finish – Nome 4. The Red Lantern – Official last place team 5. Rookie of the Year – First rookie to Nome. I set a deadline for my school as Friday, March 6, for the game cards to be turned in.

Here are my picks:

1. First to Huslia – Martin Buser
2. First to Unalakleet – Jeff King
3. First to Nome – Brent Sass
4. The Red Lantern – Chuck Schaeffer
5. Rookie of the Year – Jason Campeau

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Mushers and their dogs, volunteers, and fans have been making their way to Fairbanks since yesterday. I arrived this evening along with some others. We arrived at Pike’s Waterfront Lodge to a parking lot full of cars and dog trucks. You can see the starting banner from the parking lot and crews are setting up temporary fencing for the starting chute. We walked into a lobby that was jammed with people. Mushers are walking in and out of the hotel with buckets of salmon, beef, lamb, to feed their dogs. T.V. crews are already on site to capture any footage of Iditarod mania they can. Less than 20 hours until the start of the 2015 Iditarod.