Nome, Day 10 - The Musher's Banquet

The final event of the race is a banquet for 400 people in the Nome Rec Center. The Lakeshore Hotel in Anchorage caters the meal and sponsor Northern Air Cargo hauls 7500 pounds of food and equipment in for the event.

The menu includes prime rib, pesto chicken, potatoes, rice, vegetables, pasta salad, green salad, peel and eat shrimp, rolls, pastries, and strawberries.  Each of three serving lines has a flower decorated sled full of strawberries - regular and chocolate covered.

I was standing in line near the stage when a large group edged in in front of us.  Jeff King was at the back of the group and so I kiddingly asked him if the trophy at the edge of the stage looked familiar.  He glanced at it and realized they had created a new trophy since the last time he won... so he stood next to it for a quick picture.  He's the 4-time winner who grew up in St. Helena.







After everyone eats, the awards are presented.  I had the pleasure of sitting next to rookie of the year, Sebastian Vergnaud, one of two French racers.  Turns out he lives near mile 89 of the Parks Highway so he is almost a Talkeetnan.  He was wearing a "There's no place like Nome" tee shirt.

After the awards, each and every racer is called to the stage in reverse order of finish.  I don't have time to go through everything, so I will give you Cindy Abbott the red lantern and Mitch Seavey, the winner.

We're packing up now... tonight is the flight back to Anchorage.  One meal to make and we are out the door.

Bye.   (Just to prove I was here... here's me under the arch!)

Nome, Day 9 - The Race is Over

At a little after three this afternoon, the last musher crossed under the burled arch.  Cindy Abbott was in 64th place (six of the original 72 mushers had scratched), finishing in a time of 12 days, 2 hours, 57 minutes.  She is officially the "Red Lantern" -- the "caboose" on the race.  Officials met her as she came up off the ice and gave her a real red lantern to carry down Front Street. 

the widow's lamp

When she finished, she was given the honor of extinguishing the widow's lamp that has been burning night and day under the arch.  When that light is gone, the race is over.  I have no pictures of Cindy's arrival because I was back at work.









A few places ahead of her was Paul Hansen, a Colorado State alum.  I was down at the Iditarod HQ for the musher signing, but had time to go up and get shots of him and his team checking in with the officials.  I introduced myself as a fellow CSU alum and told him I'd send one of the shots to the alumni newsletter.  We will see whether or not they'll publish it.

The big event of the day was the chance for people to meet and greet the mushers.  People pick up copies of the free posters or purchase official race books or photographs and collect autographs.  There were some cute local kids getting signatures in homemade autograph books.  Some of the mushers looked bored, but this is a mandatory function for them -- and most were gracious.  I waded through the throngs of people and got 60 autographs (the last three mushers had not yet finished).  I was getting ready to leave when Paul Hansen came into the office to make a phone call so I currently have all but the last three.

this is what the convention center

looked like when we arrived 3/10

capacity crowd at the "Meet the Musher" event

Day 8 -- Happy St. Patrick's Day

After our 15-hour lull, the mushers began arriving again.  I was headed down to the mini convention center when I heard the PA system going.  We had heard two sirens going off, so I knew two mushers were pretty close together.  While I did not get any arrival shots, I did get to see a crowded chute.

One was easy to identify.  From half a block away I knew it was DeeDee Jonroe.  As a cancer survivor she dresses in pink and her dogs are in pink booties, harnesses, collars and coats.  (At the start in Fairbanks she even had some of the dogs in pink leggings.  If you can imagine knee socks on dogs you get the picture... someone explained that ice can build up on the back of the dogs' legs, so some mushers have begun using the leggings as well as booties.) 

Gunnar going through the checklist of official items

with the race judge

The second musher was Gunnar Johnson. 

I got to the ramp as he was being interviewed after completing his check-in.  He said he completed the race in 1994 in 22 days - his official time in this, his second was 10 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes, 6 seconds -- half the time of his first run.  He said at this rate, his next race should only take 5 and a half days.

The two had left Safety together and they came in 30 seconds apart, Gunnar got a big hug as he thanked DeeDee for "pushing" him forward.

As DeeDee checked in, I noticed that in her 30 years of mushing she had figured out a way to keep track of the officially-required items... she ties them to the handlebars of the sled... with pink lanyards, of course!  What you see here is her vet book... a record of the observations done on the trail by the official vets.  We listened to the teacher on the trail Skype with her class in Chicago yesterday and she explained what the vets look for... using the acronym HAWL (heart, hydration, appetite, attitude, weight, and lungs). 

I walked on down to HQ, as DeeDee came down the hill headed for the dog lot.












Across the street from HQ (in the house with the boat) Martin Buser was feeding his dogs.

Martin has igloos for his dogs!

Back at the church, folks were getting ready to head for the St Patrick's Day parade.  I braved the 5 degree temps (with wind chill down to -15) to watch them come up front street, led by the mayor.  The black top hat he wears at the finish had been replaced by a green one.  They came up and posed under the burled arch for us, and the Iditarod teacher on the trail, Annie Kelley, danced an Irish jig for them.  She had her dance shoes and Irish sweater mailed to Nome so she could do it.

all the parade participants

Annie Kelley

local kids

(note the call sign of the local station -

how appropriate!)

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Nome Day 7, Steak Night

The mushers continue to arrive, but we are at a bit of a lull right now.  The first half of the mushers have made it, and those who are learning the trail (mostly rookies) are taking their time.  It is 11 at night and we have not had a musher come in since around three.  The next one will be tomorrow morning.  The current red lantern (person in last place) is a guy from Colorado State...  he graduated a couple of years after I did.  It will be interesting to see if he makes it to Nome before the banquet on Sunday or before we leave on Monday.  Maybe I'll try to get a picture of him for CSU Alumni newsletter.

This morning we were finishing setting up for breakfast when the siren went off for a local musher, Melissa Stewart.  She is the daughter of Mike Owens, one of the local guys we have been working with, so I thought it would be fun to see her come in.  When I walked the three blocks to the start, there was no one there... not even the official checker.  I was wondering whether I had imagined the siren when I saw Mike pull up in his truck and his wife was right behind him in her car.  They had been out on the east end of town watching her come across the ice.  Within minutes her high school friends were gathering -- it was kind of like a class reunion rather than a finish line.  The checker didn't arrive until the police escort vehicle was in sight. 

With the time change 8:30 in the morning is still pretty dark, so Melissa was wearing her headlamp.  New LED technology has improved the ability for the mushers to see.  It also makes a team more visible, because many of the collars and harnesses have reflectors.  Here's Melissa coming up the ramp. 

Melissa was raised in Nome but now lives in the Mat-Su Valley near Willow, so the first thing she did was call her husband back at home.  He couldn't come to Nome to greet her because they have a business making goats' milk soaps -- he had to stay home and tend the flock. 

After her call home she got big hugs from the family. 

Mike gives her a hug

note how her pant legs are different

(see below)

I went back to work, and, about an hour later Mike stopped by the church with Melissa in tow, asking if there was any chance a cold, tired musher could get something to eat.  She chowed down on cheesy eggs (scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese).   Over breakfast she was showing her father that she had ruined the brand new down bib coveralls her mom had made -- she rolled over one night as she was sleeping and brushed up against her "cooker" (the equipment to heat water/warm food).  The rip-stop nylon melted... she almost went through two layers of clothing.  Luckily she had a set of down chaps so she was able to cover the damaged area.

the damaged pants (the chaps are folded

back... they attach to her belt with Velcro)

Today, with the lull in arrivals, we had a chance to get all the volunteers together for a special dinner.  We fed 38 tonight -- a full steak dinner (grilled outside at -10).  Steak, baked potato, garlic bread, salad, and scratch-baked strawberry shortcake.  Even the CEO and COO of the organization came to dinner... as did the head of the race and a number of other officials.

you can see our little kitchen area in the upper left

One fun thing - Melissa came to the dinner too.  Her father was dragging her around to try and keep her awake so she could start sleeping at normal times.  She told us she had taken one of her leaders back to her dad's house and was trying to get the dog to curl up on her dog bed so she just curled up with the dog.  She was so exhausted she fell asleep before the dog did.  Dad showed us the pictures of her on the floor with her dog.

I had a half hour after lunch to go over to St Joe's Church where they were having an art show and crafts sale.  Many natives brought bead work, carvings, furs, jewelry and other crafts -- it was fun to see all the different pieces. 

I bought a print (31/50) from a 29-year-old local Inupiat artist.  He does prints, his mom does intricate drawings of musk ox and other wildlife, and his wife does crafts -- a very talented family. 

 

Nome, Day 6, Mushers Keep coming

I walked down to the convention center this morning shortly after dawn (10 am) and got a couple shots of the dog yard.  You remember it earlier when it was empty, and now it is filling up. 

From there it was back to the finishing chute for the arrival of two favorites... Aily Zirkle and Pete Kaiser.  Aily was one of the two mushers whose teams were attacked by a drunk snow machine rider last year outside of Nulato.  She is a fan favorite.  This year she is doing a youth program throughout Alaska to encourage leadership.  Kids at the finish were wearing tee-shirts with her program name on it.

Aily Zirkle

Pete to the finish

Following close behind her was a "local" boy -- Pete Kaiser from Kotzebue (on the coast north of Nome).  He has won the Kotzebue 300 three times so his nickname is three-pete.  He too drew a good crowd.  For me, the best thing about Pete was when he left the chute he ran ahead of his dogs, leading them down the hill to the dog lot. 

Pete - lead "dog"

After lunch Jeff King arrived.  He has designed a new coat -- he said he got tired of being cold when his sleeping bag was in the sled so he now has a full-length hooded, down-lined outfit that covers everything. 

Jeff King in his sleeping bag coat

Each of the mushers go down the line to talk to their dogs after they finish.  Jeff King got an icy kiss from one of his dogs as he was posing with the dogs for the local media. 


















We made beef stew for dinner... it was nearly done when the office called to tell us not to cook dinner -- that sponsor Exxon-Mobil was buying 15 pizzas for the volunteers. 

We finished up the evening with a run down to the chute to catch the arrival of Norwegian Lars Monson and Alaskan Hugh Neff from Tok.  Long day, but fun.  I'll post the night shots tomorrow.  Good night.

Nome, Day 5 The First Musher Arrives

When we got up this morning we knew that the winner would be in today, and, over breakfast everyone was saying that it would be around 5 pm.  We had just finished prepping all the stuff for dinner when the word came in that he would be in around three.  In fifteen minutes we got our cold weather gear out and raced over to pick up our security badges.  We got to the chute about 2:45 and had to get people out of the VIP area to make room for the real VIPs (corporate sponsors - Exxon/Mobil, GCI (telephone), Donlin Mining, & Anchorage Chrysler Dodge).

We heard the siren that announces that the musher is coming up onto Front Street from the ice.  Looking down the street you could see that the city road grader was still moving snow up onto the street so the mushers would have a track to run down.

The announcer started telling tales about the first race... it finished at city hall and one of the city workers just walked out onto the street with a box of Jello and spread it on the street to create a finish line.  The first race took 30 days.

Today Mitch Seavey came in in a record time of 8 days 3 hours and 40 minutes.  Here's his arrival.

After the race he promptly went down the line giving his dogs a treat.  Then he had to deal with the awards ceremony and the media interviews. 

They bring out a platform for the winner to sit on with his dogs.  The dogs did not really want to be there, but Mitch held onto them, scratching their ears.  The one on his left just curled up and went to sleep. 

Afterwards, the winner went down to the convention center and had a "press conference" -- it was really more taking questions from the audience.  Fun. 

We walked back to the church and were fixing dinner when #2 came in -- Mitch's son Dallas.  Less than 5 minutes later, the siren went off again and #3 Nick Petit came.  (Both beat the previous record, owned by Dallas.)  We are sitting her at 10:30 waiting for the next musher - one of the Norwegians.  I am sitting next to the teacher on the trail, a gal from Chicago who has been moving along the trail with the mushers.  She flew in to Nome from White Mountain and missed the finish. 

Nome, Day 4 - the lull before the storm

Lunch is over and we have prepped for dinner, so I can take a break.  I just went out to get a quick look at how things are setting up around town.

We are staying in the United Community Methodist Church, at the corner of 2nd and C. 

Here's a glimpse of inside the church sanctuary...
which has turned into the sleeping quarters.







Debski and I have a private room...

About two blocks away from us is St. Joseph's Catholic Church -- an easily identifiable landmark as its steeple is probably the tallest thing in town.  At night the cross atop the church is lighted ... a nice addition to the evening sky.

The church sits on Anvil City Square, an area lined by mining buckets -- remnants of the town's gold rush past.  At one end of the square is a giant gold pan, as well.





Yesterday, I had noticed a bunch of people working on blocks of snow, so today I went over to see what sculptures had been completed.  This is nothing as fancy as the world snow carving championships in Fairbanks, but there were a few good ones.

Behind the snowbird you can one of the gas stations... current price of regular here is $4.67 per gallon... and diesel is $5.26.

From St Joe's I headed downtown.  I got a closer shot of the forest -- note the polar bear, penguin and camel.

Here's another shot of the finishing ramp.  The banners have been hung and the flags of the nations whose mushers are running. 

I also went down and checked on how the dog lot was being set up. The city moved the containers in place and the volunteers have strung the chains between them. 

the office

lines ready for dogs

The dog food that the mushers sent up from Anchorage is being offloaded into the containers and soon there will be straw for each musher to use for their dogs. 

unloading food bags

The dog yard is right on the edge of the harbor... nice view.

Tonight's dinner - chicken parmesan, salad, roasted potatoes and brownies with strawberries and cream.  Yummy!

10 p.m. update... three people just arrived from the airport.  Microwaving leftovers.

Word has it that the leader may be in to White Mountain by midnight... that means we could see a winner around 3 pm tomorrow.  Fast race.

Bye for now.

Nome, Day 3

Not much to post... today was busy.  We started being treated to breakfast by one of the local volunteers -- a Florida boy who came up here in '83 for what was supposed to be two years.  He's still here, going strong.  He's an Iditarod finisher himself, and his daughter is racing in this year's. 

After the church people finished their service, we took over the kitchen and finished moving in all our equipment and food.  We sat down and planned out the menus and started thawing out meats for various dishes.  We precooked bacon and sausage for breakfasts for the next couple of days, baked two batches of cookies, made an egg-casserole for breakfast tomorrow, made two batches of jambalaya and had dinner ready to go at 6:30 -- not bad for 6 hours work!

Only problem was that no one showed up at 6:30.  One group called to tell us they'd be late, then we got word that another guy who was coming in was still holding in Unakleet for the fog to lift and wouldn't be in until after 8.  We finally got dinner on the table at about 7:45... and most of the conversation was about the missing guy from Unakleet.  (Anchorage HQ kept telling our team that he was already in Nome, but nobody could find him and he wasn't answering his phone.  Everyone left about 8:30.

As I was finishing the dishes, the driver popped in with one person, and delivered a message that he was returning to the airport for the missing guy from Unakleet.  I rewarmed a bowl of jambalaya for the first guy and he was just finishing when the driver returned with not one, but EIGHT people.  So the food came out again and at 10 pm we fed a team of vet techs, dropped dog team members, and communications people.  Things finally wound down around 11 pm.  We are pooped!!!

Across the street from HQ!

Nome, Day 2

First things first.  Here is the promised shot of the Nome National Forest...

Everyone was tired of the lack of trees around here, so every year they put up trees offshore, creating a little forest.  They also have some statues of animals (some, like the penguin not indigenous to the area).  I'll get better shots with my telephoto next.

Today was a get organized day... Debski went out to the air cargo office and picked up our food, so we spent the morning opening all the boxes, inventorying what we got against what we were supposed to get, and putting everything away in the kitchen. 

the "combi" -- no windows on the cargo half!

I was called into service as the van driver, so I had to meet the morning aircraft... only it did not come in until after lunch.  They held the flight in Anchorage to wait for a flight to come in from Kotzebue with 60 pieces of luggage that had been offloaded the night before so that they could take off under less than desirable conditions.  When they were approaching Nome, they put the AK Air flight in a holding pattern for "air control" situation.  There were two 8-passenger planes from Bering Air that needed to take off.  Once they got in the 737 could land -- and of course, it was chaos in the baggage claim chute because of all the extra bags. 

I did get a couple of shots of the burled arch that is the official end point of the race.  So far they have moved the arch to the street and have started to build up the snow around it.  In the next few days they will put snow down over the paved streets to the ramp where the mushers come off the sea.

I got back to the Methodist Church in time to help Debski with dinner preps.  We did spaghetti, green salad and chocolate cake.  Just as the HQ folks came in, a plane landed.  I was supposed to meet the evening plane which was due in at 7:44... a six p.m. arrival was not on the schedule.  Well it turned out that that was the plane I was supposed to meet, so it was back to the airport.  (The plane had come in early because Kotzebue was socked in and they couldn't land.)

After dinner I was taking the folks to their hotel, and it happened to be the full moon rising just as the sun set.  While I was waiting at the hotel, I got a shot of the burled arch. 

moon rising behind city hall and the arch

sunset over the Iditarod HQ building

It's off to bed for us... the spring forward happens tonight!