The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree: Mush!

The Iditarod begins right about now, with the ceremonial start in Anchorage, Alaska. The mushers and their teams will cruise through the city with an Iditarider in the sled, rather than supplies. Tomorrow the real race begins from Willow.

I will of course be cheering for my cousin's husband, Robert Bundtzen. He is wearing bib # 51.

The economy has affected even the great race so the field is a lot smaller than last year's. I was hoping this year would be the year for Zack Steer but he is sitting this one out. Hopefully the economy will recover and Alaskan tourism will thrive this summer (especially at Sheep Mountain Lodge!) so that we'll see Zack back on the trail next year.

Marianne, at Northview Diary, is a Jeff King fan. Jeff is one of the top mushers but she follows him because of his local connection. Jeff has his own homepage, blog and Youtube channel. He will be wearing bib # 41.

Mike followed Ryan Redington last year as part of a school project and we'll be following him together again this year. He had to scratch last year so we're hoping he has better luck this year. He is wearing bib #13.

I'll also be watching husband - wife team, Allen Moore, bib #6, and Aliy Zirkle, bib #24 because I discovered their kennel's blog, The SP Kennel Dog Log, awhile ago. They have someone that will be updating for them during the race and I'm looking forward to coverage from their perspective. They have some interesting videos and great information on all the work that goes into race preparation.

I'll most likely be updating through out the week but here are some links to check throughout the race.

If you have any other links please share them!

So who are you cheering for?

3 comments:

Miriam Robbins7:20 PM
Funny, all the years we lived in Alaska, I never followed the Iditarod. We had our own little sled team that Dad trained (very amateur), but we never had enough snow to really use them. Southeast Alaska gets way more rain than snow (150 - 180" rain a year!).
threecollie7:55 AM
Thank you! I used to use the Cabela site, but I guess they aren't doing it anymore
Charley "Apple" Grabowski8:58 AM
Miriam,
I've only been following it for a few years, just since I discovered internet coverage. Before that I'd look for a little blurb in the paper. We get more snow here than much of Alaska does :(

Marianne - Cabela's is one of the sponsors that cut back their support. I don't know how much SP Kennel's will cover other racers but they've already posted stuff from yesterday.