The 2007 Iditarod, this amorphous idea of a sled dog race, is starting to take form as volunteers, media, organizers, and fans converge on Iditarod Race Headquarters at the Millenium Hotel in Anchorage.
Walking around the rooms staked out as temporary offices, conversations are overheard. Media gurus discuss the merits of formats, cameras, and editors. Volunteers organize the telephone banks and central computers logging times and progress of the racers. At the same time, the Iditarod Air Force is beginning the transport of gear and food to checkpoints along the trail. This Wednesday, counting down to the Saturday Ceremonial Start, has this feel of chaotic energy, but there is no outright tension. Why? There are no mushers, and the reason is very logical.
The mushers are conspicuously absent. I am given the media assignment this Wednesday, inspired by an East Coast TV producer, to contact the considered top ten mushers and request that they schedule an interview for tomorrow—-and also bring their lead dogs for a photo shoot “in and around Anchorage.” I ask Mark Nordman, Iditarod’s wizened Race Marshal, the guy you see on TV with a beard and arms and chest like a black bear, if he sees the idea the way I do. Mark shrugs and looks at the wall.
It’s an absurd request. The lead pack, indeed, the entire pack of 82 mushers, have secreted their dogs in quiet locations so that they can focus entirely on the race and let the dogs comfortably rest in the familiar surroundings of their musher. Secondly, no musher intent on winning will be willing to disturb their prized lead dogs, and lead them around the environs of Anchorage for a fashion shoot. And, there are practical reasons.
The dogs have been trained and campaigned in preliminary races for the Iditarod. At this point, a diversion of an hour in the calculated rhythm of preparation, is not tolerated. Jeff King, the 2006 Champ, will fly into Anchorage tonight so he can attend the mandatory musher meeting on Thursday, but his dogs will remain at the kennel in McKinley Park with his trusted handlers. Martin Buser, the 4X Champ, will keep his exuberant swifts at his kennel in Big Lake, letting them rest in their familiar dog boxes. Doug Swingley, the dominating Montanan who trains in the Eastern Rockies and has won four Iditarods, drove the AlCan highway and is keeping a low profile in Willow, Alaska where he is quietly putting the last training miles on his team, and prefers pre-race anonymity for his dogs. Finally, Robert Sorlie, the redoubtable Norwegian and 2X champ, has just arrived from an Atlantic crossing by airplane with his dogs and is intent on acclimating his dogs and focusing on the Saturday start.
Lance Mackey, this year’s Yukon Quest Champ, is a big winner on the winter circuit. Pundits in Alaska are unanimous in pegging Lance Mackey as an up and coming contender to test the four Iditarod Champs —-and Lance has made it clear that the Iditarod is his priority. Already tested by the 1000 mile Yukon Quest in February, and now preparing for the giant test of the Iditarod, he is in a trance of concentration.
The mushers, especially our competitors at the front of the pack, understand that preparation is reflected in the results, and the all important truth that sled dogs are incredibly mimetic. That is, where the mind of the musher is clear and focused, the dogs are willing to follow.
Overheard at the Headquarters:
Trail report (but could of course change)—–Generally good snow conditions to the Alaska Range, but bare ground, ice, and minimal patches of snow to the Yukon and over the portage to the Berring Sea Coast. On the coast, look for hard trail.
In summary: this year’s trail is advertised as an extremely fast and hard trail. Beneficiaries? Buser likes a trail to exercize the speed of his team, but the danger is injuries from the unforgiving trail. So control, and the old adage “the race is more about conserving energy than spending it,” could help the more methodical Robert Sorlie, for example. The merits of trail strategy are already being discussed by the Iditarod Pundits at Race Headquarters.
Up for tomorrow, Thursday—-the Musher Meeting. For the first time in a year, we will see all the mushers gathered in a single conference room at 9AM. Trail conditions, rules, and introductions will dominate the discussions.
Check out my 2007 Iditarod Preview——this could be the closest race in Iditarod history. You decide which strategy fits your personality and sense of competition—–overwhelming speed, conservative and relaxed long runs, or raw power? It’s all there in our top competitors.