In only a few hours, the 2020 Iditarod mushers will be on the clock.  The start is scheduled for 1400 going out of the Willow Community Center.  As of now, falling snow – lots of snow – is the big story.  As mushers arrive and take to the trail, many more stories will be shared.  Parking is always a concern at Willow.  Thus ITC has scheduled big yellow school buses to transport spectators and volunteers to the starting line.

Seems like the Ceremonial Start and the Re-Start will experience some of the same weather.  The skies, gray and cloudy with snow fall ranging from heavy to none.  Temperatures are in the lower 20’s and the wind is less than 10 mph.  So yes, there will be snow all day in Willow but it won’t be wind driven and falling side ways.

Several mushers mentioned how glad they are that the daylight savings change between the Ceremonial Start and the Restart.  For people operating on a regular routine, losing the hour of sleep catches you off guard and sometime even makes you an hour late for an important date.  Mushers who are sleep deprived while trying to figure out run/rest schedules and when to depart checkpoints, it can be downright confusing.  Being that the clock did the “spring ahead” last night, that hour won’t be an issue during the 2020 race.

While everyone is waiting for the race to get underway, I thought I’d share out some pics from 4th Avenue as well as Campbell Air Strip from the Ceremonial start.