Red and Black Teams are on the Iditarod Trail

We got the teams safely on their way to Nome this sunny, warm afternoon at Willow Lake.

Aliy and the Red Team, lead by Quito and Beemer left the starting chute at 2.50pm. The team walked beautifully behind Aliy from the truck, through the staging area up to the line with several handlers guiding them but once they got on the line and the count-down started they were lunging and screaming ready to go (except Nacho, because he is “too cool for school”). Aliy looked ready for her 1049 mile journey also – her answer to someone who yelled “I hope you win” was “I’ll do my best, how’s that?”

Allen and the Black Team also showed off how beautifully behaved SP Kennel dogs are with their walk through the staging area but again, once they were on the line they were absolutely ready to get going! I.V. and Sissy were nearly jumping out of their skin! Allen is excited about running this team made up of a mixture of inexperience and wisdom – from Clyde, I.V, Chemo, Fang and Schmoe in their very first Iditarod to Tatfish and Spicy running their sixth. He believes it to be a really talented team and his goal is to get them all to Nome, happy and healthy. He will run an entirely different run/rest schedule than Aliy to accommodate his inexperienced crew.

We are now all following the race the same way you are… hitting the refresh on the Iditarod Insider GPS and videos and relying on other news agencies for snippets. We will do our best to bring you the latest about our teams on the trail as soon as possible.