The Race Has Begun!!!

The moment we have been working toward and waiting for finally arrived! March 1st, the Ceremonial Start in Anchorage. Team Parrish arrived in Anchorage at 7:15am , parked the dog trailer on 4th and F street and then ate a hearty breakfast at the Downtown Deli on 4th street. We then proceeded to the dog trailer and dropped the dogs and started preparations. The race started at 10am, but we were not scheduled to depart until approximately 12:30pm. Liz had drawn starting position 75 at the Mushers Banquet on Thursday night. 96 teams registered for the race, a record number!

The downtown area was filled with thousands of folks who walked by and were very interested in the dog teams. We answered numerous questions, posed for pictures, and Liz was interviewed several times. The governer of Alaska, Sarah Palin was at the start of the race. The day was cold, breezy, and brisk. You could feel the excitement in the air!

Finally, the "heads up" point person came to our dog trailer and we got the team hooked to the gang line. Liz and her sister Amy led the lead dogs to the starting line. Lori and Scott were on the main sled, Karen on the drag sled, Anna's son rode the drag sled to the starting line, and everybody else had a dog on a lead to assist the team to the starting line. Others helping were Kim, Patty, Jan, and Iditarod volunteers. Once we reached the starting line we had one minute to prepare. Liz got on the main sled, I got on the drag sled and all of the sudden the count down started....10, 9 , 8..... Go!! We shot down Cordova street, with the crowd cheering and yelling Good Luck Liz, see you in Nome! We reached the infamous right hand turn on Cordova and 4th and Liz cut it too close and dumped the sled. My sled just stopped. Race voluteers helped her right the sled and we were off again. In my opinion, that right hand turn was the most tame of all the turns and icy stretchs on the trail. We made all of the remaining turns, but icy conditions caused my drag sled to slide after a turn and I could not avoid a small birch tree. Bang!!! I smacked the sled into it and my knee into the lower sled crossbar. Oh well! I dislodged the sled from the tree and we continued. Then we got to an icy stretch and both sleds kept sliding to the right off the trail. My sled kept dumping over. I'd get dragged for about 10 yards, the team would stop, I'd get up, and we would continue until I fell over again. At one point one of my snow hooks got stuck in the snow and a volunteer helped me free it. After about 3 dumps and drags totaling about 25 yards, we finally reached a flat, snowy spot. I righted the sled, and off we went! The next challenge was a bridge over a creek. Instead of going over the bridge, Gerry decided he wanted to go across the creek. So the team proceeded to the right of the bridge. It would have been fine but there were tree limbs hidden in the snow and they caught the sleds. Liz did a great job of figuring out how to dislodge first her sled, then mine with the assistance of the Iditarider Phillip. He enjoyed the experience of being dragged in the snow for a bit too!! We went up the snow bank and my sled took out a snow fence just after the bridge, and away we went! From then on it was smooth sailing to Campbell airstrip, the completion of the Ceremonial start. Our dog truck and the crew were there to meet us! It was a thrilling ride! One thing that really impressed me along the entire route of the run was the personal interest of the crowd in every musher. Onlookers had the musher roster so they knew who was coming by when they saw the bib number. They called out Liz's name and wished her well, some yelling See you in Nome, and extending high fives for her to reach out and return. A boy scout troup had a trumpet salute for each team that went by and handed out hot dogs and cupcakes to the mushers as they flew by. There were alot of hot dogs and cupcakes run over on the trail!!! The entire run was festive with a personal touch==very heartwarming.

Now, on to the real start of the race!!! Team Parrish convened at 9:30am Sunday morning at the cabin in Willow. The team was fed and loaded on the trailer. Liz's sled was loaded on the trailer, and away we went to the start at Willow Lake arriving at around 11am. It was a partly sunny day in the high 20's or low 30's. Lots of spectators! The race re-started at 2pm. Liz was scheduled to depart at 4:42pm so we had quite a bit of time to get ready. The atmosphere was relaxed and Liz could take her time and complete last minute preparations to the sled, including Lori's sewing job on the sled bag zipper. Liz was interviewed and lots of pictures were taken. AT 3pm we dropped the dogs. We checked to ensure the race collars were secure. Then the booties went on, and finally the harnesses. At 4:05pm we hooked the team to the gangline and Liz was ready to get on the sled. At 4:18pm we started making our way to the starting line. And then, we were there, in the starting chute with 1 minute to go. Liz left the sled and went to the front of the team to encourage her leaders Coast and Tie and then walked the line to make sure all was in place for a good start. 30 seconds to go, 10 seconds to go..... and BAM, she was off on the race of her dreams! It was quite an emotional moment. Several of us shed tears and hugged. It is a moment I will always remember. All of the hard work, long days, nights with very little sleep, preparing drop bags in -38 degree weather, the training runs, all the logistics, details,etc. finally culminating in a magic moment at 4:42pm on March 2nd!

So, Liz is currently on her way to Rainy Pass. She should make it there late tonight and then will take an 8 hour rest. Follow her progress on the Iditarod home page. They update race progress every 15 minutes.

I'll try to post some pictures soon. I have to size them for the blog, which takes some time.

Should Liz call from a checkpoint, I'll be sure to update this blog!

Elaine