Anchored at 61° N: Iditarod--The Indy 500 of Alaska, Only Twice as Long.

Last weekend, Carrie, Christy and I witnessed both the ceremonial start and the actual start of the 37th edition of the Iditarod, Alaska's premier, endurance sled dog race, starting in Willow and ending under the burled arch in Nome. This year mushers will take the south route (used in odd years). There is only one mandatory 24 hour rest and one 8 hour mandatory rest, the remainder of the race is up to the mushers, based on their particular training methods and dogs.

Carrie and I are "hooked." We check race updates frequently at Iditarod.com and read the blogs which are updated daily with inside information. It's fun to speculate on who will make a move and who will rest, who will get injured, who has the most dogs remaining, and who will get out maneuvered in the home stretch.

As I write, Lance Mackey, winner of the 2007 and 2008 Iditarods, has a significant time advantage on his nearest competitors--approximately eight hours last time I checked.

A few words about the dogs, the real heart of the race. Each dog consumes up to 12,ooo calories per day of racing. The dogs' physiology seems to allow them to actually get stronger as the race progresses--they're perfectly adapted to turning energy into motion at a highly efficient rate. Dogs may be dropped along the trail as they are either injured or otherwise unable to move on. They are then flown to Anchorage or back to their kennel, depending on the individual dog's needed care. Sled drivers start with 16 dogs out front, with either a single lead dog, or a dual lead pair.

The dogs are not, as many believe, pure Siberian Huskies or Alaskan Malamutes, but mutts. The primary mixed breed is part siberian husky, border collie, german shorthair, lab, and other pointers. You can often tell a dog's bloodline by its ears--do they stand up or flop? Floppers probably have more shorthair, collie, lab in them; standing tall would indicate more husky. As you'll see in the pictures, the dogs are a number of colors, but their eyes are often blue, indicating a husky influence. Some mushers do use pure bred dogs. One of the 67 competitors this year is using all Siberians, and a past musher used all poodles, imagine that.

Alaskan sunrise via our driveway the morning of the 37th Iditarod start.

Carrie and Christy under the start banner at the ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage.

Chester Creek trail view of a passing musher at the ceremonial start

Christy (our first family visitor) and I await the next musher, as I check the line up to see who will arrive next.

A musher and twelve "huskies" at the ceremonial start, after crossing a foot bridge, and heading toward the Campbell Creek checkpoint.

Full view of twelve dogs, musher, and iditarider

Mushers' sleds in the staging area on 4th Ave. Downtown Anchorage March, 7th

The mushers all traveled down a raised snow trail through the streets. All the snow is trucked in and formed for the mushers and dogs.

The Willow Lake (traditional) start of the race, now with a 16 dog lead out.

An Alaskan tailgate, Iditarod style--fires were lit on top of the lake ice and hotdogs roasted, with the Budweiser sunk in the snow to keep cool. Temp was approximately upper teens.