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The excitement of "Iditarod Weekend" began on the evening of Thursday, March 5th with the Musher's Banquet which was held at the new convention center in downtown Anchorage. Hobo Jim entertained the crowd of around 2000 with songs of Alaska and of course "I did I did I did the Iditarod Trail".


After dinner the 67 mushers who signed up to run this year were called to the stage one by one to reach into a fur mukluk and draw a number which determined their starting position and bib number for the race. Most of the mushers then signed autographs and visited with fans.

Favorites like DeeDee Jonrowe and Martin Buser drew big crowds and my sweetie and I even managed to get our picture taken with Sebastian Schnuelle (winner on the 2009 Yukon Quest last month).

Here is the Millenium Hotel on Lake Hood, location of the official Iditarod headquarters and home to one of our stores.

Interested in what this dog is reading? Check it out.

Interested in having a print of one of Leanne's photos?

Date 3/19/09

Anchorage Temperature
Low -5F High 20F

Daylight 12 hrs 16 mins

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Life in Alaska
2009 winner Lance Mackey makes it 3 years in a row!

It was a beautiful sunny morning for the Ceremonial Start of Iditarod 2009 on 4th Avenue in downtown Anchorage Saturday, March 7th. I positioned myself on a six foot high snow berm at the corner of 4th and Cordova to watch as the 67 teams made their way down the Avenue and rounded the first turn of their course through town. There are always a few mishaps on this corner - this year one team's drag sled (second sled being pulled behind to slow down the dogs) didn't swing wide enough, hit the light pole and broke off completely! They had to hurry and tie it back on before the next team (the teams start at 2 minute intervals) came around the corner. Jeff King stole the show wearing skis and steering his sled with a pole attached to the side. The main sled on each team is occupied by an Iditarider who bid on the opportunity to ride with that musher in an online auction held to raise funds for the Iditarod organization.

When Sunday morning came we were off to Willow (a city about 50 miles north of Anchorage) for the restart of the race. A huge crowd was assembled across the frozen surface of Willow Lake along both sides of the starting chute. The teams again started at 2 minute intervals but this time it was the real thing. Mushers donned heavy cold weather gear and many had their headlamps already mounted on their hats for the darkness they would soon encounter in the vast Alaskan wilderness ahead.

As the teams go through the checkpoints along the trail they often "drop" dogs that are tired, injured, or not performing well. Those dogs get flown back to Anchorage in bush planes on skis and they land on the frozen lake behind the Millennium Hotel, which is Iditarod Headquarters during the race. The dropped dogs are checked by vets and cared for by Iditarod volunteers until a handler from the dog's kennel comes in a dog truck to pick them up. These pups seemed quite content to lounge in the sunshine wrapped in polar fleece blankets after their dinner.
At the time I am writing this it looks like Lance Mackey will be the winner of this year's Iditarod as he rests in White Mountain just over 120 miles from Nome. If he pulls it off he will have won three years in a row - a three-peat! The battle for 2nd and 3rd place between Sebastian Schnuelle from Whitehorse YK and John Baker of Kotzebue promises to be a close one. And it looks like it will be a four way race for 4th between Jessie Royer (you go girl!!), Aaron Burmeister and Mitch and Dallas (father and son) Seavey with only a total of 30 minutes separating them all as they left Koyuk.

The idea of mushing a team of dogs through blinding storms and chilling cold across over 1100 miles of rugged snowcovered terrain is more than I can even fathom. I have great admiration for all of the adventurous individuals who dare to compete in the Last Great Race on the Iditarod Trail. -- Leanne

Whether you like Jon Van Zyle's artwork, the retro-style of this musher girl tee, or the"Who Farted" tee to tickle your funny bone, we have a variety of dogsledding gifts for every taste and budget.