The Iditarod

Last weekend Anchorage was a flurry of celebration, excitement, and people (notably people from outside Alaska). The source of all these festivities, of course, was the start of the Iditarod. The famed sled dog race runs for almost 1000 miles across Alaska and up its western coast. Billed as “the last great race” the Iditarod draws the attention of the nation (and the world) as the mushers and their dogs make the epic journey from Anchorage to Nome. Actually, Anchorage is home to the “ceremonial” start – the real racing begins the next day in a town 80 miles north. That doesn’t stop the Anchorage ceremonial start from being a huge media and fan favorite. The mushers begin in downtown Anchorage, where snow has been left on the streets for the sleds, and travel across town to Campbell Tract, where the Bureau of Land Management (and my workplace) is located. Campbell Tract is home to a gravel airstrip that provides a good place to end the ceremonial start. As a maintenance worker at BLM, I was fortunate to help out – both with preparation and for the actual event.

A ceremonial musher who was the first to arrive - they were decked out as if they were from the olden days, using the dogs to carry a large load a long distance

During the winter, we packed the snow on the end of the airstrip where musher’s trucks congregate as teams load up their sleds and dogs after coming from downtown. Several days before the event, we cleared off the loose snow from the top, set up fencing to keep the public separated from the mushers, and made sure all parking areas and walkways were salted, spread with gravel, and safe as could be.

The ceremonial start draws a huge crowd, with most in downtown Anchrorage. However, we had upwards of 2000 people at the Bureau of Land Management to take in the action. The field of 69 mushers arrived, each spaced out a couple minutes from the next.

This year, the race drew competitors from all over the world – Norway, Australia, Jamaica, New Zealand. It’s fun to see the whole spectrum of mushers: some competing to to win, others just out for the experience, and others somewhere in between. Since the ceremonial start is after all ceremonial, the mood is light and festive.

Newton Marshall, a musher from Jamaica and crowd favorite!

After arriving, each musher directed his or her dogs to the teams’ truck where the dogs were fed, watered, and then loaded up to head off for the next day’s official start. Sled dogs are used to cold weather, and the high 30 degree temperatures we had were a far cry from their optimal operating temperature of around 0 degrees. As a result, many dogs were rubbing the heads and necks in the snow – trying to cool off after their brief trot.

Having a little meal before being loaded up in their kennels.

The dog water tank that it was my responsibility to clean out, fill up, and transport out to the airstrip

It was exciting to cross paths with the Iditarod race. It is the one time that the wider public has a chance to be up close to race, as most people can only follow the actual competition from afar. It really is one of the last “great races” – it is grueling, extreme, and of epic proportions.  But it also can bring out the best in people – mushers helping each other out on the trail or a small village coming together to support the racers at a checkpoint. In any case it has been a wonderful privilege to be in Alaska for the 2014 Iditarod Sled Dog race.