Hike!  Today was the big day!  Sixty-eight teams parked their dog trucks around Willow Lake waiting their turn to go to the starting line.  Each musher hooked 16 dogs to the gang line, ready to take his or her team down the trail to Nome.

It was a picture perfect day, clear skies, no wind, and the temperature hit a high of 27 degrees.  It was very comfortable for spectators, but a little on the warm side for the canine athletes.  The warmth of the day did not diminish the dog’s excitement to get on the trail.  As soon as the dogs were harnessed and had their booties on they began to jump and sing for the fun to come.   These dogs love to run and pull.

Thousands of fans lined the fenced starting shoot to watch the race.  Official race time was two p.m., with teams leaving in two-minute intervals.  Each team was individually introduced with the last ten seconds counted aloud – 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1- Go!

Will 2009 be a “three-peat” for Fairbanks’ Lance Mackey as he goes for his third straight victory?  Is this the year for Jeff King or Martin Buser to match Rick Swenson’s record of five Iditarod wins?  Or will this be the magic year for one of the ladies in the race, Dee Dee Jonrowe or Aliy Zirkle?  Of course, you can’t rule out Sebastian Schnuelle and Hugh Neff’s recent first and second place finish in the Yukon Quest.  And then there’s Cim Smyth, who was the 37th musher to select his bib number at the banquet, and he pulled number 37 out of the hat for the 37th Iditarod.  Wow!  The competition is really deep this year.

The race is just beginning!  Come along as I follow the 2009 teams down the Iditarod trail.

Enjoy this slide show!