Hooray!

Ok, so this is an amazing post from my desktop. I am working on getting it synced back up with the laptop. I have to move calendars and such and transfer pictures. I'm gonna have to move some musics eventually, but that can happen later. The pictures and the calendars are the big things that have to be moved. And then we have the problem that I love having the play button right on my keyboard. I may have to get a new keyboard with such buttons, cause that is super sweet.

But now we get into the big news of this post, because on March 1st there will be a big event. It is the beginning of the 36th Iditarod! For those of you who don't know, this is the amazing dogsled race across Alaska. Dogsleds have been used in Alaska for a long time, however this trail dates back to the diphtheria epidemic in early 1925. The town of Nome was struck by the epidemic and the nearest serum was in Anchorage. The only name brave/crazy enough to try and fly it was in the lower 48. The answer was dogsled.

This year being an even year the race will follow the northern route. The teams must cover 1132 miles of ice and snow. The object is to see which team can complete the course in the shortest amount of time. But they must complete this under their own power and without aid from others. To stop your time the nose of the first dog in your team must cross the finish line.

Now, since I figure that most of you don't know that much about the Iditarod, I shall let you know some of the basic rules. First off you must be at least 18, and completed in a qualifying race before th Iditarod. The race begins at 10 Am in Anchorage, Alaska, regardless of weather.

Now then, for the race. The musher must personally sign in at each checkpoint before continuing. The team must take one mandatory 24 hour stop, but it is up to the musher where to take it. The musher must stay at that checkpoint for the entire 24 hour period. The musher must also take one eight hour stop on the Yukon and one 8 hour stop at White mountain. But you cannot combine any of the stops.

There are restrictions on your sled and a list of mandatory items. But as a note, one mandatory item is 8 booties for each dog. Also you have to always carry emergency dog food on the sled. Also, for navigation you are restricted to traditional means. Map and compass, no gps, no night vision goggles...nothing electric or mechanical to measure speed and direction.

Oh, and just so you know there are several pages of rules regarding the dogs. Mandatory vet checks, you have to carry your vet book, if they think you've been cruel to your dogs you can be detained for 8 hours.

You are allowed to ship food and gear to certain checkpoints along the trail to resupply.

Now then, since I haven't followed as closely in years past , mostly due to not realizing when the start is until its is nearly over, this year I will be rooting for Lance Mackey of Fairbanks Alaska. Mostly this is based on the fact that he is the defending champ. He is starting in position 10 this year. There are 96 people starting this year. Most hail from the USA and Canada, but there are mushers from Norway, Germany, Belgium, and a musher from France and Italy. There are 74 male mushers signed up and 22 female mushers starting the race. 64 of them are veterans and 32 are rookies.

Now, here is the fun part. I said that my pick was Lance Mackey for the veteran and I'll be pulling for Rudi Niggemeier from Germany as my rookie pick. I'm willing to wager a couple beers on this. So here is how this will work, any one who is up for it, make your pick for veteran and rookie musher. At the end of the race the person whose pick ranks highest for their category will win a beer from the person whose pick is lowest in that category. If mushers are disqualified, each person picking a disqualified musher must buy the winner a beer. Anyone who wants to be part of this by all means leave your pick up as a comment. You can find the list of mushers here.