HEEE YAAAA!!!

OOOOHHHHH Give me a team and a good lead dog and a sled that’s built so fine…… sing with us now! Hobo Jim performed the annual Iditarod anthem the night before the ceremonial start in Anchorage last Saturday.  Peach was in attendance and starry eyed for days afterward. These world-famous dog mushers, who spend so much time alone and training with their fifty or more racers, tend to be either extremely shy or extremely happy to be in human contact and chatter excitedly and passionately about the career they’ve chosen. 



This dog is ready to race


 

It’s a harsh road to Nome – what are you saying, CoCo? There isn’t a road!  It’s frozen tundra! Nothing and no one but harsh winter climate for one THOUSAND, one hundred fifty miles.  They spend all year training.  It’s dirty and smelly and rough and the love of their lives.  The dogs always come first, above the mushers own life.  That Disney movie, Iron Will, was not far off the mark with its dramatic swelling music, fierce bond between musher and dog storyline and epic physical battle to the finish.  The Last Great Race has barely changed in forty years. 

This is no glamorous runway, no billion dollar contract, no Rolls Royce blinged out on main street, no supermodels in diamond dresses serving thousand dollar glasses of champaign, no A or B-list celebrities making scenes in the media… These are down home people with not a ton of money, racing on really dangerous terrain, winning just enough to cover the cost it takes to even get into the race.  This is a tough and time-consuming sport.



Dallas out on the trail



And it is SO ridiculously Alaskan.  That’s why Peach and CoCo love it.  They took a whole van full of tourists to see the official restart on Sunday.  Crowds of spectators stood on top of the frozen Big Lake in Willow, Alaska, squinting in the blinding sun that reflected off the snow.  They kept their guests warm with chili and hot chocolate and pointed out who to root for.  Martin Boozer, Dallas Seavey and Dee Dee Jonrowe.  The girls know these big stars personally – no big deal – and support them all the way.