Iditarod XXXVIII Kicks Off

[Bunz]

I am not sure if anyone else cares, but it is always a big event in Alaska. On Saturday the ceremonial start kicked off in downtown Anchorage and did its annual 6 mile trip through the city. A few friends and I plus our collective kids avoided the downtown scene and went to the Alaska Native Medical Center campus and got decent parking plus front row places. With plenty of coffee, hot chocolate around it was nice for the kiddos to get to high five the mushers as they went by at a not high gear speed but still brisk rate.

I took some pictures, but none of them are nearly as good as the local media coverage so I will take some liberty with those. www.adn.com will be the homepage for just about all of these photos and links etc, unless otherwise noted.
This is a pretty good collection.
http://www.adn.com/2010/03/06/1170971/iditarod-ceremonial-start.html#id=1171060&view=large_view

The restart which officially starts the clock was today in Willow, Alaska. Here is the leaderboard. Please keep in mind that it is far to early to consider this any real indication of eventual result. The rumor is that this year is supposed to be fast. Potentially less than 9 days for them to travel 1161 miles officially. There are real questions about the course in an area called the Farewell Burn which is a knarled valley/basin encountered after the race trail emerges from the Alaska Range.
The question is, really if the weather will cooperate when the races reaches the historically fast but potentially dangerous middle portion of the trail along the Yukon River.
Then as the racers reach the coast of the Norton Sound after the Unalakleet Checkpoint the weather conditions will be either easy cruising or brutal nightmare. A reasonably accurate forecast of the weather in that area of the state a full 7 days away is not possible. I am hoping and if history prevails this could be a very dramatic race.

Names to watch for. Lance Mackey, the equivalent of Lance Armstrong for dog mushing. He has won the past 3 and is looking to make it a forth with a still strong team. There is a relatively minor side story about his medical marijuana prescription due to his throat cancer. He is still the favorite.

Then here is a number of other notable favorites worth mentioning. DeeDee Jonrowe is herself also a cancer survivor. Despite never winning the race she is a perenial favorite and a long emotional story that I would encourage you to google for complete details.
There is Martin Buser who has won a number of times and holds the record for the fastest time, running over 1100 miles in less than 9 days. Officially 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, and 2 seconds. He was featured on the Discovery Show Dirty Jobs for a long episode.
There are also a bunch of notable others of past winners and rising upcomers. This years Iditarod could be quite dramatic. I will do my best to provide updates as they become signifigant.

 

[The Scotsman]

I am not sure if anyone else cares, but it is always a big event in Alaska.....

........they sometimes show clips on the sports channels.........but it ain't prime time here in the UK.

 

[Popeye]

Five dogs died last year. How many will die this year?

 

[Gipper]

Five dogs died last year. How many will die this year?

I am sure you also complain about China's treatment of dogs. Or, maybe not.

The Chinese eat dogs and cats. They keep them caged in horrific conditions.

But, China is a much better country than the USA. So, says some liberals.

Guangzhou, China (CNN) -- Dogs bark and whine behind high chain-link fences, some of them gnawing the wire so hard they bleed at the mouths while cats packed into crowded cages cower in fear if anyone approaches.

This isn't a pet store -- it's a meat market in Guangzhou, a city in southern China where eating cats and dogs is common practice.

At the Han River Dog Meat Restaurant in central Guangzhou, diners can choose from a long list of menu items, including dog soup, dog steak, dog with tofu and more. In the kitchen, the chef chops up meat for dog hot pot, one of the more popular dishes. Most customers like it spicy.

"Dog meat is good for your health and metabolism," explains Li, the hostess who declined to give her first name. "In the summer it helps you sweat."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/09/china.animals/?hpt=Sbin

 

[Bunz]

........they sometimes show clips on the sports channels.........but it ain't prime time here in the UK.

Its not even well known outside of Alaska. Locally it dominates the news coverage. I havent seen much of any national coverage. It generally comes at the end of the race.

For the record, the half way prize was won today, $3,000 in gold nuggets.
Assuming the weather doesnt get horrible, which it probably will, they are through the most physically demanding part of the race, cutting through Rainy Pass in the Alaska Range, and the farewell burn.

They will soon be hitting the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers, which can be potentially dangerous due to ice conditions. Then they reach the coast which is often subjected to among the worst winter weather in the world. These dog teams go through storms and weather that would keep the guys from Deadliest Catch in port.

 

[Bunz]

Five dogs died last year. How many will die this year?

None so far. Last year was a particularly rough year for all the participants. I know we have had this conversation for the last few iditarods and I can assure you these dogs are not only highly trained and capable of handling the work load, but they have access to vets at every checkpoint and ultimately the mushers would never want anything to happen to thier dogs. They are often times closer than family.

 

[Bunz]

I am sure you also complain about China's treatment of dogs. Or, maybe not.

The Chinese eat dogs and cats. They keep them caged in horrific conditions.

But, China is a much better country than the USA. So, says some liberals.

I keep forgetting you cant seem to turn your partisanship off.

 

[Gipper]

I keep forgetting you cant seem to turn your partisanship off.

Well then I shall continue to remind you.

 

[Pandora]

Five dogs died last year. How many will die this year?

What did the dogs die from? Did they die while racing or after the race was over?

 

[Bunz]

What did the dogs die from? Did they die while racing or after the race was over?

Generally during the race, or from injuries caused during the race, but passing away after. Most coming from an injury of some sort rather than from lets say heart failure. Although heart failure has been a cause multiple times.
I think sometimes it needs to be made very clear that these dogs are rarely mistreated. Severe penalties, including lifetime bans have resulted in the cases where a musher has mistreated his dog(s). These dogs are valuable and ultimately critical to the survival of the musher themselves.

There have been cases where dogs have drown by going through the ice, or hitting overflow or any number of other factors that cause a dog or team to hit open water.

There have been other cases where dogs and teams have gotten lose and not been found. Then there are cases where crashes happen. Imagine coming down an icy hill tied up to 15 other dogs with 200 pounds of sled and the weight of the musher following. Serious wrecks are infrequent, but when they do happen it is not pretty.

Here is 4x reigning champ and local hero Lance Mackey talking about the incident that happened to his team in 2008 outside of Nome during a different race when an idiot on a sno-go (you lower 48ers call them snowmobiles) doing 70mph crashed into the back of Mackey's sled. His lead dog zorro was taking the last leg of the trip in the basket.(Further evidence that the mushers care about thier dogs, to rest his best dog even in the home stretch of the race)

 

[Pandora]

I have seen a few shows on the race and I agree the guys love their dogs like family.

I saw one documentary where it was so cold a dog died and the man was near death and his hands were frost bitten and he had to cut open his dead dog’s tummy to put his hands there to get warm. Apparently it saved him from losing his hands and the dog was already dead but he was really upset that his dog died and that he had to do this to save his hands. I do not know if this was a race or practice for a race, it was a few years ago.

Dogs don’t talk but it looked to me like the dogs loved the race as much as the men leading them.

 

[Bunz]

Here is the off scene reaction of Lance Mackey in 2008 after he pulled off a brilliant move to pull away from previous champ and perennial favorite Jeff King. The voice in the background if Jeff King being interviewed over loud speaker at the end of the race.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iditarod_Trail_Sled_Dog_Race
http://www.adn.com/2008/03/11/342144/mackey-leads-into-last-iditarod.html
This story is about the finish in 2008. Where Mackey knowing the next checkpoint involved a mandatory 8 hour layover, he acted as if he was going to take a relatively long rest. Jeff King trailing by just a few minutes planned on doing the same. Once King was soundly asleep, Mackey quietly slipped away and managed to gain nearly an hour lead.

 

[Bunz]

I have seen a few shows on the race and I agree the guys love their dogs like family.

I saw one documentary where it was so cold a dog died and the man was near death and his hands were frost bitten and he had to cut open his dead dog’s tummy to put his hands there to get warm. Apparently it saved him from losing his hands and the dog was already dead but he was really upset that his dog died and that he had to do this to save his hands. I do not know if this was a race or practice for a race, it was a few years ago.

There are a number of instances where mushers and teams have been put in really difficult situations facing a cold isolated wilderness. All to often they dont have a happy ending. Such is life in Alaska and the far north.

Dogs don’t talk but it looked to me like the dogs loved the race as much as the men leading them.

That is just the thing. Anyone who has actually seen a sled dog team in a race or training, or even one trying to be reformed into a pet knows it is quite obvious that these dogs live to run. At the start race, it takes generally 6 adults to help as handlers to keep the dogs from taking off, this is on top of a foot break on the sled as well as an ice hook that is into the snow, it is not uncommon for teams to be tied to a truck as a break in times of need.

 

[Bunz]

http://www.adn.com/2010/03/12/1181491/rookie-yearns-for-nome.html
I thought this was a notable image, and really is indicitive of what running the Iditarod entails. The story is also a good snapshot of what it is like for those running in the back of the pack just hoping to finish the race.

 

[Popeye]

How's the Jamaican guy (Newton Marshall) doing Bunz?