When Will the Iditarod Trail Race Start? And Other Questions

DeeDee Jonrowe accepts a pair of earrings on Cordova Street during the ceremonial start in 2016. (Bob Hallinen / ADN)

 

The start of the 45th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is just days away.

 

As mushers and their sled dog teams prepare to dash to Nome and spectators prepare to follow their journeys, the Alaska Dispatch News prepared answers to a few questions about how the race works and what we might expect this year.

 

1. When will the 2017 Iditarod start?

It begins with an 11-mile ceremonial start on Saturday, March 4, at 10 a.m. in Anchorage. Mushers and their teams will take off from Fourth Avenue, near where it intersects with D Street. They'll turn onto Cordova Street and drop down the hill to Mulcahy Stadium before snaking their way along city trails and ending their run at the Campbell Airstrip in Far North Bicentennial Park.

 

Two days later, the official race begins in Fairbanks on Monday, March 6, at 11 a.m. If temperatures stay low, teams will start on the frozen Chena River near Pike's Landing. If it warms up and the river ice melts, the race will move to a nearby road.

 

Iditarod musher Jessie Royer mushes past the Riverboat Discovery on the Chena River in Fairbanks in 2015.  (Loren Holmes / ADN)

 

Teams will leave the starting chute one by one, at two-minute intervals. People can park at the Carlson Center where shuttle buses will leave for the start beginning at 8 a.m., said Lanien Livingston, Fairbanks North Star Borough spokeswoman.

 

 

Read the whole article here.

 

Happy New Year

2017 should be an ... interesting year. Not the least of its potential goodness is the lack of a bitterly divisive political campaign.

We But Turn Another Page

 

 

Unlike many, we don't put any great stock in observing New Year's Eve. Or New Year's Day, for that matter.

 

The ticking of a clock is continuous, given regular winding or changing of a battery. One second is much like the last, and it's unlikely that Eternity cares. Marking the passage of time is a popular habit, though, and I'm not belittling those who do so. To each, his or her own.

 

I personally get much more excited by the knowledge that with each passing moment, we're that much closer to Jesus' return, and that's something to REALLY celebrate!

 

 

But 2016 has not been a pleasant year, to hear most people tell it. Between terror attacks, a bitterly divisive election cycle, and everything else going on around the world, most are ready for the thing to end.

 

Personally, we had a very good year. We moved out of the big city and a deteriorating neighborhood, bought a home, replaced three vehicles, and our younger daughter escaped injury in a serious accident. I had a health scare which turned out to be nothing at all.

 

So we'll stay home, munch on some snacks, and watch a movie or two. And, if this year is like many previous Eves, we'll go to bed around the usual time. And probably be awakened briefly at midnight by fireworks.

 

But all in all, we've nothing to complain about. So to all of my readers, I say "Happy New Year!" in hopes that it will be, for each of you.

 

Thank you for stopping by, my friends. May God bless you all.