The ceremonial start of the 2010 Iditarod will be on Saturday, March 6th, in downtown Anchorage. There are 71 racers & their dogs entered this year. Seven more had registered, but have since withdrawn.
The race is struggling a bit to find sponsors and funding; four-time winner Jeff King has donated $50K of his own money, and the City of Nome - the end of the trail - has kicked in the same amount. This year's purse, though, will be somewhat less than last year's.
The Iditarod's website says that funding for the race is down about $1 million from previous years; several corporate sponsors have recently withdrawn, as well.
But the Iditarod will go on. It's part of our history and heritage, and sled dog racing is our official sport. Alaskans will see to it.
2 comments:
I always think the Iditarod is a fascinating race. I've never seen one of course and the likelihood that I ever will is pretty small, but it's something that captures the imagination.
Run doggies Run! :-)
When I was flying foks around up there some years ago, the natives weren't happy with the race.
Several felt violated being drafted from year to year to pack the trail with their snow-go's.
Their major complaint was being promised by the organization the race would bring in tourists, hence money. It was an empty promise, of course. But the important thing was they were beginning to want money for their labors and expenses of operating their equipment, and begrudging the time they spent for others pleasures and pursuits.
Of course, deregulation of the phone companies and shrinkage of ALASCOM didn't help prospects either.
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