3/5/11

iditarod 2011

the 39th running of the great race is (almost) on. with the ceremonial start today in anchorage, 62 teams begin tomorrow from willow and will spend anywhere from 10-17 days running 1150 miles to nome.

today we joined friends along a very nice spot on the trail, away from the throngs of people downtown and watched as all 62 teams passed by.
a short distance up the trail from us, someone was giving out hot dogs to the mushers. its not all business on the back parts of the trail, away from the media and tourists. instead, just a bunch of alaskans looking for a good time and an excuse to barbecue with down, fleece, hats, hand warmers and hot drinks to keep warm.
i must say, a good time was had by all.

for those of you who are interested, the official iditarod web site is quite informative. you can click here to find it.

there are some very interesting people who run this race.
i'll be keeping my eye on lance mackey's step-son, cain carter. the 19 year old rookie has some big shoes to fill being lance's son and running this race for the first time.
of course, lance himself will be looking for his 5th win. an amazing feat for a man who has been through fairly serious cancer treatment a few years back. he's a machine, that one.
then there is zoya denure, who's dogs are all rescue dogs, love that, love her.  mike williams jr. is yupik eskimo and one of the only natives running the race, i'd love to see him do well.

a peek of my world today~ hope you enjoy.
handsome hub
scott janssen of anchorage with his team
 lance, the man, mackey
 rogue rider on the trail
 "wait, what, did you say NOME?"
 love the thumbs up here...
 officially keeping us "in line"
 the view from the trail
 handing newton
(the musher from jamaica) a hot apple pie, fresh off the grill
 just a little jog in the park. 
go dogs go!
 one of the prettiest teams

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Been a while since I checked in here... Love, love, LOVE, the new banner shot.
OX

Laura said...

WOW. Nice pics. FYI I am developing a show with Zoya, for either Animal Planet or Discovery. She deserves a show, she's amazing!

Views from Malmesbury said...

Great pictures. I'd have loved to have got over in time for the Iditerod the year I was there but couldn't get there early enough. As it happened, there was insufficient snow that year and the teams were shipped to Fairbanks to start there. I did get to meet a lovely lady called Mary Shields and her dog team while I was in Fairbanks a couple of months later and had a great time chatting and listening to her talking about the sledding and her dogs. Beautiful animals. Thanks for the pics and the reminder.