Restart II—-We discover more mushers in the dog lot—2pm Joe Runyan Returning to the dog lot, I decide to take any slice of reality I meet. About trucks, some dogs are already harnessed, barking occasionally in anticipation of a 2pm start. The sky is clear, sun intense, and temperatures well above freezing. Mitch Seavey …
Willow Restart—10 am in the Dog Yard—Warm to prevail By Joe Runyan The Willow Restart is staged on the ice of Willow Lake. I asked a local if people fish here and he said “Probably, but mostly it gets a lot of float plane traffic in the summer.” A community center overlooks the site, loaded …
Readers may have watched the broadcast of today’s (Saturday) ceremonial start on 4th avenue anchorage. Limited to 12 dogs, mushers exited the start chute, cameras exercized by thousands of fans lining the streets of Anchorage, with either two sleds in tow or one large sled carrying an Iditarod passenger (you can bid on the ride …
The 2013 Iditarod 2x champ Mitch Seavey is back to defend his position. We have talked about the teams of Aliy Zirkle (her kennel just won another Yukon Quest to complete a long list of success), 4x Jeff King,2x Norwegian champ Robert Sorlie, 1x Dallas Seavey, et al who have assembled to test Mitch …
A few additions to our top Ten annex How could I be so negligent? At the mushers meeting held this Thursday morning at the Millennium Hotel I milled around the gathering mushers and noted Aaron Burmeister, Hans Gatt (absent last year), Hugh Neff (also returning to Iditarod after an hiatus), and Dee Jonrowe—–in no particular …
Wednesday Feb 25: A Top Ten Roundup?
by Joe Runyan This is the time for the annual Top Ten List, a very risky enterprise for any Iditarod commentator, accompanied with a low level of accuracy. But, I have to do it. My only option for any kind of credibility is to call Dean Osmar, the 1984 Iditarod champ, and …
Tuesday February 25 Iditarod arrives
Like a world convention, the Iditarod arrives and converges on Anchoage. I eased into Anchorage late last night on a sleepy flight out of Portland, Oregon, noticed some veterinarians with their very large duffle bags of winter gear and sleeping bag, and overheard passengers talking about the start this weekend, March 1. I talked to …
7PM Anchorage—The Inside Story of the Dropped Dog I’m on my way home and took the afternoon flight from Nome to Anchorage. Before catching another flight I stopped by the Millenium Hotel which serves as the Iditarod headquarterters for logistics, communication, and a processing center for outgoing veterinarians, officials, volunteers, AND …
Nome in the Dog Yard
Nome in the dog Yard Teams continue to finish in Nome, so I take a tour around the dog yard. Here we see the finishing teams resting in neat rows. The dog yard is laid out logically with long chains stretched end to end in the yard. All the mushers have tie out cables and …
2PM NOME—-Mushers into Nome, End of the Race Just checked the Iditarod checkpoint times and see 21 mushers already in Nome (mile 936) . To the rear of the pack, Cyndy Abbott (mile 611) and Bob Chlupach (634) are near Kaltag. While the air went out of the competitive side of the Iditarod when Mitch …
