Iditarod 2009

Last weekend we went into downtown Anchorage to see the start of the Iditarod sled dog race. Each year, dozens of teams brave the cold and treacherous Alaskan terrain to race from Anchorage to Nome. A journey of about 1150 miles. Some of the best racers get there in ony 10 days! And if you are thinking like I am thinking, no the dogs are not pushed to their limits and run into the ground just to win this race. There are vets along the way to check the dogs and each racer is required to take certain precautions to care for their dogs. So far, only one dog has died in this race out of a few hundred in the competition. This is such a big deal, that a Pathologist is performing a necropsy and it is getting a lot of media attention.

We got to a nice spot to watch the teams pass by. You can get so close, you can give the musher a high-five as they pass by. I didn't, however because I was so busy keeping a certain little girl happy. Jaycie just wanted to play in the snow. It was about 20 degrees, so I was making sure she was staying warm and didn't fall into the snow too much and get her face covered in powder (which happened once).

Here's that little girl slowly turning into an ice cube.

Shannon and Jaycie enjoying the sunshine.


Here is another team. Notice the booties the dogs wear. This is to protect their feet from jagged ice and hard-packed snow. 1150 miles of that stuff would really wear down their feet.