Today was the traditional ceremonial start of the Iditarod here in Anchorage. The actual race starts tomorrow in Willow. But the ceremonial start is a lot fun - 80 dog teams in downtown Anchorage. The cacaphony of howling dogs is unreal - and so absolutely great. The ceremonial start follows the Fur Rondy trail about ten miles from downtown Anchorage to the Campbell Airstrip road. At that point, the mushers load their dogs and sleds into their trucks and get ready for the real race which start tomorrow.
This year, Mark Moderow, a co-worker whose office is three doors down from mine, is running the race. Mark is GCI's in house corporate counsel - generally not an occupation associated with dog mushing. However, Mark's family has been mushing for years. Mark's son, Andy ran the race three years ago when he was senior in high school - Andy finished in the top 15 and almost won rookie of the year - an amazing accomplishment. Mark's wife, Debbie ran the race last year. So it's Mark's turn this year.
My goal this morning, was to get down to the start in time to take some pictures of Mark and his team. However, I just couldn't get out of bed in time (even though Mark's team didn't leave the starting shute until 11:00 AM - that shows what a slug I am). So, I missed out on Mark pictures. He and his team had taken off about ten minutes before I made it there. I was bummed.
However, Clemmie had a vet appointment this afternoon at 1:30 PM. Clemmie's vet is in a little South Anchorage strip mall that also houses a fabulous European bakery and great little espresso shop. Clem and I pulled into the parking lot and lo behold, we parked right next to Mark's dog truck! I zoomed over to the coffee shop just as Mark and his family were walking out. Is this not funny or what?! Mark heads out from downtown Anchorage on the Iditarod trail and then I bump into him at the espresso shop. Too cute!
9:36:56 PM 
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A very calm competitor!
An old fashioned sled and a little girl in a 
Sack's - my favorite restaurant. This morning, their parking places had some interesting occupants.
A dog handler.
