More Iditarod Shots

Hans Gatt, 3rd. place, mushes on the frozen Bering Sea outside of Nome

Well, I've left beautiful Alaska and its beautiful people and am back in Boston. But I'm not done bloggin' about the North! My mind is so occupied with the dear ones I've left behind and the awesome experiences God gave us. I'm so grateful.

I know, I know: most likely, few of my readers are fascinated by the Iditarod like I am, but I'm going to post some more pictures anyhow. Just 'cuz I can. :) It's an incredible sport; a truly great race. If you aren't "into it" I hope I can pique your interest a bit. It doesn't get near the publicity or funding it should, in my humble opinion. So hopefully you'll think this is a "fun" post...I had fun putting it together. :)

John Baker, 1st place

DeeDee Jonrow (12th place), surounded by fans, reporters, and dogs after her race

4-time champ Martin Buser (18th place) is congratulated by 2011 champ John Baker and Iditarod Veteran Michael Williams Sr.

I loved congratulating the exhausted four-legged athletes at the finish line; they were so sweet! Can't remember whose dog this was- either Ken Anderson's (9th place) or Jesse Royer's (10th place). Royer lost to Anderson by a matter of seconds and their run down Front St. to the Burled Arch finish line was pretty intense run to watch. The dogs were so tired.

Ramey Smyth, 2nd place, enters the chute leading his dogs as an Alaskan native holds his Eskimo drum in the sunlight.

Hans Gatt, 3rd. place, nears the Burled Arch on Front St. It's pretty cool to watch the dogs running down Front St. and imagine what's going through the musher's minds as they near the end of the race. (Check out Hans' face!) Sometimes the dogs are so happy to see people that they get distracted and run to bystanders. :)

Lance Mackey, 4-time champion. Such a nice guy, and he's got an incredible life story too; Google him some time. He signed my shirt and we talked twice. Twice. They were very-teeny-conversations, granted, but they were conversations nevertheless. I daresay I'll remember them much longer than he will. Heh!

Nate's soooo sweet! What on earth is a girl to do with a brother like him?? He paid for my ticket to the Musher's Banquet with him and Carlee. All-you-can-eat king crab was on the menu along with the traditional strawberries (a big deal in the middle of winter, for Nome!) and other delicious food. It was so great. Most of the evening was spent watching the various awards being given to the mushers and hearing each one say a few words (often including a funny or interesting anecdote from the trail). We got to speak with a few mushers too, which was fun. :)

At the banquet: Sabastian Schnuel, 6th place. There just aren't words to describe The Hair.

Sabastian again- because The Hair deserves another view.

John Baker is handed an honorary key to the truck he won and awarded the winning check for $50,400.00. Which really isn't that much, when you consider the cost for the mushers and the amount Kentucky Derby winners get paid for running 1 and 1/4 miles. ($1.5 million!? Good grief!) That's another reason I love the Iditarod- it is certainly NOT an elitist sport.

There are a lot of random prizes along the trail. The prize for the first musher to arrive at the check point of Anvik is a seven-course meal (quite a treat on the 1,000 mile wilderness trail!) and an "after dinner mint." At the banquet, Hugh Neff (5th place) was presented with the "after dinner mint" in a gold pan--$3500.00 in bills!

Here's a snippet of Martin Buser, sharing a trail story at the banquet.

Perhaps I hadn't mentioned it, but he's my favorite musher.

(Please note that my name has been cleared regarding alleged stalker charges at the finish line... YES! Check out Nora's comment on my Buser post! A true friend)