SPK Dog Log

Thursday was a busy day for the crew with lots of things happening!

The dogs took their picturesque trip down the Parks Highway to Anchorage and are safely here, thanks to Karolyn and Mark. They stopped half way near Cantwell and arrived mid afternoon. They’ve eaten, stretched out and are settling in for a good night’s sleep now.

The Musher Meet and Greet was good fun!  Hundreds, even thousands of selfies and signatures on posters, books and caps later, Aliy had met people from all over the USA and many international visitors, all here to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Iditarod. She was given so many gifts and hugs and best wishes – thank you to all who attended. Here’s a few pics from the event.

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At the Start Banquet Aliy drew bib number 19 and will leave the chute for the Ceremonial start at 10:36am local time and at the Willow Restart at 2:36pm. For those that couldn’t see the live feed – watch her thank yous here.

There were some fabulous table centre pieces from two different classrooms around the country – Sunrise Elementary School in Orlando and Camanche Middle School. Thank you for your artistic efforts!

Here are some photos from the banquet.

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We’ll attach the tags to the dog collars tomorrow so they can be tracked through the race by the veterinarians. Even though we know our dogs well by sight, there will be over 700 dogs out on the trail so they are best tracked by bib number then their own individual letter. As with the Quest, we have fun matching the tag letter to their name where possible A – Amber, B – Bruno, C – Commando etc. Violet never gets her own letter though, they don’t go down that far (like those of us with unusual names that never find personalised mugs or pens or keyrings).

On the way home we found this. You know you’ve made it when you and your dog team are on the side of a building! Thanks Northrim Bank for your sponsorship of Iditarod.

We will be covering Aliy and her team mates exclusively on the DogLog, as you would expect. For the early part of the race we’ll give a daily updates, increasing in frequency as the race progresses. The Iditarod is different to the Yukon Quest in many, many ways – one of which is that the checkpoints are not on the road system so once we say farewell to the team on Willow Lake we don’t see them again until Nome. That means we will be relying on media reports and tales from previous years to let you know what is going on, to the best of our knowledge.

Check out our Facebook page and Instagram on Saturday from Anchorage and Sunday from Willow Lake, then at the finish line from Nome as we will likely post directly there on those days where possible.

We highly recommend you purchase an “Iditarod Insider” subscription if you can. You will get access to exclusive videos and the GPS tracker, and help support the race at the same time. There are a couple of different subscription options – click here for more information. There will be live streams for Insiders from the Start Banquet, Ceremonial Start, Willow Restart and the Finish in Nome.

The Iditarod website is, in itself, a wealth of useful information. You can read trail notes written by Donald Bowers Jr. by clicking on each leg description, read musher profiles, find out about the Race Rules and keep an eye on the weather on the trail via the Weather Centre. There is also an education portal that is not just for kids! Check it out here.

There are a couple of interesting blogs you can follow – “Eye on the Trail” by Terrie Hanke and the “Teacher on the Trail” by Brian Hickox that will give you a different perspective on the race.

How can you support us?

You can support Aliy and the team by “Joining the Red Team“. We have extended the deadline for all team members to receive a postcard sent from Nome at the end of the trail until Thursday, March 7th so if you join the Red Team now you’ll get a membership certificate and SP Kennel ball cap plus special edition Nome postcard (Note: the postcard will be sent separately from the cap).

You can still Join the Black Team and receive a notebook with your team certificate and we’ll send you a Nome postcard.

All Dog Fan Club members will also receive a postcard from Nome if you join before March 7th. You can choose to support your favourite dog or many dogs and your name will be displayed on your dog’s team card. All dogs have their own fan club, not just those running the race, so you can choose a Golden Harness winner, a retiree, a puppy – or all three!

This time next week Aliy and her 14 team mates will have been on the Iditarod Trail for over a day. It seems to have taken forever to get here but this last week will go by in a flash. Here’s what’s going on…

Between now and Wednesday Aliy and Allen will be taking all the potential Iditarod dogs out for their final runs on local trails. Aliy will narrow her team down to 15 or 16 during this time. She can take 14 with her on the race – a decrease from the 16 dogs allowed in previous years and she currently has 20 in the running.

Aliy, Allen and Moira head to Anchorage Wednesday evening for a sponsor function and ready for Aliy to attend the musher meeting on Thursday morning. There the mushers will learn about the trail, logistics for the start and restart and other critical info for them to embark on their adventure. It will be the first time all the mushers will be in the same place at the same time and many won’t have seen each other since the Finish Banquet in Nome last year.

During the day on Thursday Karolyn and Mark will drive Hollywood down to Anchorage with their precious cargo, probably 15 or 16 dogs so Aliy can make her final decision on Sunday morning.

Thursday afternoon is the only “Musher Meet and Greet” opportunity for the public. It will be at 4pm in the Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center and there will be merchandise available to purchase and free posters that you can get Aliy and other mushers to sign. There is no other face-to-face opportunity for signatures so I recommend heading along there if you’d like to meet Aliy. More info at the Iditarod website (click red link)

Later that evening at 6pm, is the Start Banquet. This is an opportunity for all mushers to get up on stage to thank family, friends and sponsors and to draw their starting position. More merchandise and posters are available at this event but there will be no musher signing stations as there have been in previous years – this has been replaced with the ‘meet and greet’ at 4pm.

Friday is a down day, set aside for final preparations. We have a sponsor event in the morning but other than that it is a chance for us to give the dogs (and Aliy) some final pampering before their cross-state expedition. We are staying privately so won’t have any public dog greeting opportunities while in Anchorage.

Saturday morning is the carnivalesque Ceremonial Start on 4th Avenue. The first musher leaves at 10am then every two minutes after that another will leave the chute. There are several fantastic spectator vantage points throughout the 11 miles to Campbell Airstrip so keep an eye on the Anchorage Daily News this week as they are sure to have some information about the best places to go. Aliy will take up to 12 dogs with her and Allen will ride the tag sled. This event is all about fun! You can come by the truck to say “Hi” prior to the start and to see the dogs.

Sunday is game-day. The fun and celebration of the Ceremonial Start is put aside for the serious business of racing proper. The first team will leave the start chute on Willow Lake at 2pm with mushers joining them on the trail every two minutes after that. This staggered start time differential is made up at the mandatory 24 hour rest – where ever the musher chooses to take it. Aliy will take the maximum 14 dogs with her as she leaves Willow.

Sunday evening is where we all come in. Aliy told me she is aware we are watching the tracker as it inches it’s way along the trail. She can feel the support and good vibes, so get ready to send your best wishes out into the universe!