Iditarod here I come !!

Well, The Iditarod has come and is almost done for the 2009 season. I had the opportunity to go and help out with the Iditarod false start and restart on the 7th and 8th of March. It was one of the coolest things I have seen. We got to fourth street in down town Anchorage at about 7:30 AM. And there were dog trucks everywhere. It was an awesome sight to see. I talked to Lance Mackey (who just won the Iditarod once again for the third time in a row) I saw Jeff King, Tim Osmar, Dee Dee Jonrowe, and many other musher super stars. After we dropped dogs and they all went to the bathroom I walked around the area for a bit. There were so many people walking around! There was even a group of people that wanted my autograph. I explained to them that I wasn't running the race just helping out but they insisted that they still wanted it and I even posed with their group for a picture! It was crazy! But I couldn't wander for too long, I had to get back and help get Mitch ready to leave. I arrived back at the truck right as everyone started to bootie and harness the dogs. I harnessed a couple dogs until Danny told me to stand by the lead dogs and don't let anyone within five feet of them. So that is what I did. I even had to yell at a few people to please step away from the dogs. It wasn't long before we had his team all hooked up and ready to go. Danny ran up and gave me a leash. I hooked it to the lead dogs. I got to lead the team to the chute! We were about 10 blocks away from the starting line and we had to run the entire way. Which doesn't sound that bad, but they haul in 4 feet of snow for the race and we had to run ten blocks in slushy ankle deep snow. But even harder than that was getting the dogs to stop! They were so jazzed up and ready to take off for Nome! We made it to the start line just fine though! The countdown started then, "2 minutes" The timer said. It was a rush. I wasn't even racing but my adrenaline was pumping now! "1 Minute" Check to make sure all the dogs are hooked up right "30 seconds" fix one dog that was tangled. "15 Seconds" Undo my leash and get ready to get out of the way "10 seconds" step off to the side and double check every thing. "5..4..3..2..1..GO!!!!" The dogs took off and Mitch went off down the road! Oh man, I can't wait until that's me going down 4th avenue!! But I can't daydream for too long we still have two more teams to get out of here. I head over to Jen's truck. She greets me with her normal smile! We start to bootie up her dogs and get them harnessed. We get her Iditarider into the sled. And then Jen asks me to drive her sled to the start for her because she wants to walk with her leaders. So I step on the runners and stand on the brake she gives me a smile and a nod. I reach down and pull the quick stick which releases us and we start moving to the start chute. Although Travis and I were standing on the brake and we had three people helping us keep the team under control it was a crazy ride the two blocks to the start line! But then I saw it. The archway that was over the start line. And I was on the sled. I couldn't help but pretend that this was my rookie year and the I would be flying down that chute in a few minutes. But that didn't last long. Once we got to the chute Jen took my place and I took my post to make sure her team got out ok. Her team got a little tangled out of the chute but she quickly fixed it and was off! Dallas was right behind her and he flew past me as I ran back to the truck. We now had to drive the 11 miles to the airstrip so we could get the teams loaded up and taken back to the hotel. We made it there fine and got back to the hotel. Travis, Scott and I took Mitch's dogs to a friend of Scott's where we spent the night. Most of the night though I was outside with all the Vet work we had to do with the dogs. But once I was inside I was looking at this gentleman's walls where he had all his war medals and certificates. I then spotted a letter that looked a little out of place. It was in the middle of all the plaques kind of in a place of honor. As I got closer realized it was an Iditarod finishers letter from 1975! It was really cool. I talked with this guy for most of the night about what his race was like, it was really different from what we have now. But soon I had to get some sleep. It would be a long day tomorrow and I needed my sleep!! The morning of the 8th was the restart and official start of the 2009 Iditarod. We pulled up to the Ice and parked our truck. We immediately pulled out all the dogs and watered them and started on the Vet work. Mitch started to pack his sled and I was always being asked questions by all the tourists that came to see the mushers take off. By the time I was done with vet work the teams had already started to leave the chute and soon it would be our turn. We harnessed and bootied the same as the day before and then we took off towards the starting line. Mitch went flying down the chute past the thousands of fans all cheering him off! I went over to help Jen and she said that I should go and get her a cheeseburger which I did and by the time I got back Mrs. Seavey had food for the rest of us and we had a five minute break while Jen had all her mandatory gear checked. Soon we harnessed all her dogs and once again we headed off to the starting line. This time her team took off with no tangles looking like an experienced Iditarod team! Next came Dallas. Once he pulled up he shook my hand and said "Thanks for all your help" I said no problem and wished him good luck before he pulled away. One day that will be me!!! But I have some time before that happens. Since then its really been the same back here at the home base except the random moose encounters at 4 AM that make me have to get out of bed to get the moose out of the dog lot. I have just been daydreaming every day about my turn to go underneath the Burled Arch in Nome and get my belt buckle. Well, better get training!!!