The Exodus from Nome

A bit more than a week ago, John Baker won the 2011 Iditarod; a little more than two days ago the last team finished the race.  1,049 miles…on a dog sled, 16 dogs pulling a woman or a man across Alaska, from Anchorage to Nome.  It’s pretty incredible.  62 people and their almost 1,000 dogs marched to Nome in a race that dragged us through race and Alaskan history.  It’s totally incredible.

Looking North on the Yukon River

Monday night 30 Iditarod personnel, paid and volunteer staff including the Race Marshall, Chief Veterinarian, Checkers, Trail Sweeps, Cooks, and Comms People were on a flight from Nome to Anchorage.  The flight was provided by PenAir, one of the sponsors of the race.  It was a two hour flight last night, the return flight of a round trip to Nome.  Two weeks to get there, two hours back.  We flew at 19,000 feet; a couple of the passengers were a little higher than that.  Some slept on the flight, some talked their way back across Alaska, some partied, and some stuck ear buds in their ears and shut out the world.  There are many other travelers doing the exodus from Nome.  This was one of many flights.  Hundreds of sled dogs were being flown home from Nome.  Mushers, family, sponsors, fans and dog handlers have all been making their way back home.  Some of the travelers were stopping in Anchorage, for others; there was still another flight…or two. 

By Tuesday the work to put the race to bed is in full swing.   The ITC has been breaking down the Race Headquarters at the hotel in Anchorage.  The communication system was being boxed up; telephones, computers, printers, and lots and lots of cables, all of it stashed til next time.  The Iditarod Store in the lobby of the Millennium is being put away.  Chief Veterinarian Stu Nelson is busy talking with mushers about dogs, and talking with other veterinarians about dogs. The logistics of unstaging this race is just as complicated and time consuming as staging this race.  It will be weeks before all of the post-race stuff is done.  The dogsleds will all come into Anchorage and then delivered to the ITC offices in Wasilla.  Mushers will be stopping by or calling to find out where their gear can be picked up, and when.  And then they’ll call to find out where their missing gear is.  It’s remarkable but almost everything gets back to where it’s supposed to be. 

Over the next few days, a few key players in the Iditarod will be finding more time in their days.  John Baker will be back home in Kotzebue, he and I will have a conversation with that I’ll be sharing here.  I’ll be doing the same with Race Marshall Mark Nordman and Dr. Nelson, the head vet.  I intend to write a checkpoint review, I don’t know which one yet, and they are all very interesting places.  They are all incredible places.

Things you might want to know…

• 62 Mushers started the race, 76% of the mushers finished.
  

  Iditarod Dog at the start of the Iditarod two weeks ago.

• 49 Veteran Mushers started the race, 80% of the veterans finished the race.
• 13 Rookies started the race, 62% of the rookies finished the race.
• 47 Men started the race, 79% of the men finished the race.
• 15 Women started the race, 66% of the women finished the race.
• 962 dogs started the race, 48% of the dogs finished the race.
• Michelle Phillips and rookie Jodie Bailey each had 13 dogs in their team at the finish line, the biggest teams to reach Nome.
• The average team at the finish line had 9.6 dogs.