Anchorage – Readers may have already checked out our complete video coverage of the Iditarod 2007 Ceremonial Start. The Ceremonial Start is a hold over from the early days of Iditarod when mushers actually departed Anchorage for Nome. Presently, the practical considerations of new roads, trails, make it impossible. The Solution? Preserve a tradition and stage a 11 mile Ceremonial run through downtown Anchorage for the fans, and then reassemble for the real start in Willow, Alaska on Sunday.
Therefore, appreciate that the Ceremonial start is not timed, and other than the fact that an appearance is mandatory, Saturday is a day for the mushers to mix with crowds of fans and give a select group of Iditariders a mushing experience.
From our vantage point on the broadcast podium today, however, a few catchy innovations and precautions caught my eye. Every musher I saw go out of the chute today had booties on their dogs—-probably not a necessity for such a short run on loose snow, but a precaution to avoid any risk at all of damaging the paws of their huskies.
Interstingly, sled dogs are able to pull harder when the tug line of the harness comes off the hips of the sled dogs. But over the last several years, innovators like Jeff King, John Baker, and many others have experimented with harness design so that at times the dogs are pulling off the shoulders. Although the dogs cannot pull as hard, the theory goes that they are actually more comfortable and less likely to develop chronic injuries—-the same thing we see in many sports with the same motion or type of gear being used. As a result, I saw many twelve dog teams (that’s the number required on Saturday) with shoulder tug attachments. These teams were still creating a rooster tail of snow out of the start chute pulling two sleds and three or four passengers, but they were controllable.
Changing the angle of harness attachment is a nifty innovation which mushers will use in different terrains and situations to control power. On Sunday, of course, top mushers will use the 16 dog complement allowed by the rules, lighter sleds, and more than sufficient power from the 850 lbs of biomass in front the sled.
Long time fans will have appreciated the Memorial staged this morning for Susan Butcher. Great memory for Alaska’s most famous athlete and public figure.
Info heard at Headquarters:
Horrific winds could develop Monday and Tuesday. Will it stop the dogs? No, but it will wreak havoc with the airplane logistics of our film crew.
Trail condition forecast remains unchanged for tomorrow Sunday, with hard and fast trail reported.