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| Jeff King |
Sunday was the Iditarod restart in Willow. We go to Crystal Lake and assist with traffic
control. The mushers come across the
lake towards us, then go down a trail, across a road and onto another
lake.
Since snow machines, skiers and
people on foot are also using this access to the lake, it’s important for the
safety of the dog teams that the trail is clear. We spot the teams as they come onto the ice
(about a quarter mile away) and then relay the information to the crossing
guards on the road. They get a “one
minute out” warning so they can stop traffic.
Then, once the team clears the
chute, the trail is re-opened.  |
| last year's winner, Dallas Seavey, heads towards the road |
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| Ray Reddington Jr. ready to pass Cim Smyth |
The teams start two minutes apart, so generally there is
time between teams. But the flat terrain
of the lakes is easy running for the dogs, so we sometimes have two or three
teams together on the ice. A couple of
years ago we had a problem when one of the teams stopped at the road and the
two teams right behind them had to slam on their brakes to avoid a collision. I got a shower of snow as the musher hit the
snow brake on the sled right as he passed me.
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| Wade Marrs |
Our Scottish musher Wattie McDonald is not running this
year. He dropped out before last year’s
race when his wife became ill. Wade Marrs, a young Wasilla musher ran his team
last year to get them experience. Wattie
expects to be back next year.
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| Brazilian Luan Marques |
This year has rookie mushers from Norway and Siberia – cold climates
you’d expect to have dog teams. But we
also have a guy who works in a pet shop in Brazil. He’s been working with “Dream A Dream” Kennels
for two years to learn mushing, training with a veteran who happens to be our
representative to the Borough Board of Supervisors.
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| Jamaican Newton Marshall |
Our favorite outsider in this race is veteran
Newton Marshall from Jamaica… this is his third race. He's always dancing when he comes past us.
“Unless you’re the lead dog, the view never changes,” is a
well-known observation about mushing.
More importantly, “if the lead dog stops, everyone stops” – as we got to
see when the Russian team stopped right in front of our position.
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| Mikail Telpin |
This is the 41st Iditarod...
three racing today have each won 4 races (Jeff King, Martin Buser, and Lance Mackey) ...
there are three others who have previously won (John Baker and father & son Mitch and Dallas Seavey)...
racers range in age from their 20s to their 70s.
One of our favorites -- DeeDee Jonrowe -- is doing her 31st race. Of the previous 30, she finished 28 times, including 15 in the top 10! She's also battled back from a near-fatal car crash, has beaten breast cancer, and ran the famous Hawaiian Ironman race (she had to learn to swim at age 55 to do it).
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| pretty in pink... here comes DeeDee |
