One More Day

until the Iditarod.

I'll camp out at the same place as last year, along the Chester Creek trail behind Mulcahy Stadium. It's an excellent spot: one could stand close enough to the mushers to shake their hands as they go by, if their hands weren't full of sled handles and stuff. And if they weren't moving at a fast trot when they go by.

Still, it affords wonderful photo ops as the teams come down the hill to the north, and pass by within speaking distance. An added benefit is that the starting area on 4th Avenue is packed with people standing 10 or 12 deep, as far as you can see from the rooftops* above the starting line, and close-ups are harder to shoot because of wind, cold hands, and zoom lenses that get sluggish the longer you stay out there.

Looking east along 4th Avenue, one block east of the starting line. The crowds are twice as deep, directly below this point, because the sidewalk on the north side is twice as wide. (Click to enlarge)

The weather tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., the starting time, should be around 8 to 10 degrees, and it's about 20 minutes before the first racers appear where I'll be.

One good note: Lance Mackey is starting at #16 tomorrow, so he will be coming into sight of my position around 11:15. Last year, he was much later in the line-up, and I was getting pretty cold by the time he went by.

Anyone want to join me? There will be tailgaters & a fun atmosphere, and it's much more of a "family" setting than downtown. It's a lot of fun!



*I stood on a rooftop overlooking the start line at 4th Avenue & D Street, for four consecutive starts. Ground level affords better photos, I think. Zoom pictures are okay, but you lose so much of the background, and it's the atmosphere of race day that makes it so much fun.