Today was the ceremonial start of the 38th Annual Iditarod Sled dog race..otherwise known as the “Last Great Race”. This is race is like no other mostly because sleds are powered by dogs, not man. Man drives, dogs mush. They go approx 1050 miles in usually under 11 days. The latest man to beat is Lance Mackey! He’s won a record three times in a row, once while suffering throat cancer treatments just days before. The weather, the terrain the care he takes of his dogs has made him one of the top of his sport and well respected by all his fans and colleagues alike. He’s one Golden harnesses, awards for his humanitarian efforts and his special treatment of his dogs. Never a happier team will see than one driven by Lance Mackey they say. I’m not so sure its not true. However, there are other teams to watch as well. Hans Gatt of Canada, who was a favorite in last years race, Cym and Ramey Smyth, Dallas and Mitch Seavy (father and son competing against each other) and many more are joining the field. The musher trained by Mackey that came all the way from Jamaica and will be running with Mackey kennel dogs. The following links are links to the kennel website of the teams I managed to get pictures of. I hope you enjoy them..it’s so exciting to watch. Our dogs got smiles from the mushers as they went by and a few shouted “awww…wanna go toos” which I had to shoot back “Don’t give em any ideas they’re hard enough to handle”.
Meiko our big Akita X wheel dog broke loose at one point and actually stopped one of the race teams. I don’t think that poor lead dog knew what to do. Mieko is so big he stopped a 16 dog team in their tracks! He attempted to make friends but we are talking a team of highly athletic dogs. They didn’t want to PLAY anything right then..they are roaring to go. The musher shooed Meiko out of the way and another spectator got a bear hug from him and captured him for me. He’s SO strong! The guy got him back to the sled. I had to keep my hands on our Lead Bailey, as he was all about rescuing Mieko from that big ole mean lead dog he was confronting (as would be part of his job in different circumstances..as he’s actually never lost a fight..and never started one unprovoked either..which makes him highly trustworthy..but I figured basically throwing him in the mix was like bringing a fox to an egg hunt. We did want to keep the dogs all in one piece..and Bailey while a heck of a fighter didn’t stand a chance against 16 dogs lol..so I drug one one way the other guy drug mieko off who protested like a compact bucking bronco all the way. Geesh..you’d think we trained them to compete or something the way our dogs went nuts. Thankfully we were parked far enough away that the dogs could be properly staked down (wrapped around a pine tree that trembled mightily as mieko protested but it held)
That did not get captured on a camera I hope. (Oh I know what a shot..Mieko stopping an entire sled team..but it was soooo embarrassing.)
Another highlight..the shots of Lance Mackey and his team of beautiful dogs. They are the cream of the crop. He was using what looked to be Larry and Maple as leads again..and that little girl dog is just the sweetest little girl you ever met. Full of life and so happy to be the lead. You wouldn’t know she’s capable of keeping a team that size in line but she was all business when the time came. Enjoy the photos from the ceremonial start of the 2010 Iditarod in Anchorage Alaska. If I have pics of winners I will post results as I get them. Of course I’m rooting for Mackey as I really would love to see him do a quadruple win. I am pretty sure he’s the hardest working musher in the business! Happy Trails to all the Mushers and their dogs. May they all get under the arch with the lantern burning bright!
Links to the kennels of the mushers that got pictures of today are below!
Lance Mackey (Team #49)
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