Meghan cheers as a Scottish team heads down the Cordova St. hillOn Saturday morning Meghan and I walked a few blocks from our house to the watch the Iditarod Ceremonial Start slide through town. The Ceremonial Start is a chance for people in Anchorage to see the all of the mushers and dog teams before they head out on the trail for the 1,000 mile race to Nome. The actual race starts several miles north of Anchorage in Willow. We chose to watch the start from a spot where mushers must control their teams as they descend a steep hill. With one hand on the sled and one hand waving to the crowd, the first 35 teams had no trouble navigating the hill. As the morning progressed minor adjustments were made to the course. Volunteers added snow to bare spots on at the top of the hill. Suddenly a dog team jumped out of the snowy course and onto the city street, barreling toward crowds of people lining the course to watch the teams from what they thought was a safe distance. As the team continued to race down the hill fans scurried out of the way. With a loud "haw" the musher was able to command his team back on course at the bottom of the hill avoiding a serious incident. To add to the excitement, a second team jumped the course and soon righted itself -- it was defending champion Lance Mackey.
Do you need a better reason to follow the Last Great Race?
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