Today was the restart for the 2017 edition of the "Last Great Race", the Iditarod! Commemorating the historic serum run from Anchorage to Nome in 1925 (1925 serum run to Nome - Wikipedia), the race travels near-enough to 1000 miles across the interior of Alaska to the coast city of Nome. There is a ceremonial start in Anchorage followed by the official start that normally takes place in Willow, AK; however due to low-snow conditions south of the Alaska range the official restart was moved to Fairbanks for only the 3rd time this year.

Iditarod - Last Great Race on Earth® for standings and more




Fun fact: more people have summited Mt Everest than have completed the Iditarod...

The real stars of the show






It's been a "real" winter in interior Alaska this year, with a good amount of snow fall and about 2 weeks of -35*F and colder. We even saw a low of -58*f here in Fairbanks, but usually by March it starts warming up as the sun starts returning. Today's temp at sunrise? -39*F. We've got a real dog race this year folks! Fortunately by start time it had warmed up to -10 or so.

Get ready...



GO GO GO!













Most mushers leave with teams of 12-16 dogs



Alaskan Huskies doing what the do and love best...









Even mushers can get a flat occasionally






You've seriously never seen a happy dog until you've seen a sled dog hooked up ready to run. Each dog gets a handler to keep them from getting tangled up and hurting themselves as they go crazy before the start of the race.




In contrast, the mushers are usually a bit more solemn.



despite the chaos at the start



And even if you don't care for the sport, there's always some good ole fashioned people watching to be done at any event in Alaska



I really wish I was able to follow the race this year as it progresses, maybe one day in the future. Teams should start sliding in to Nome in about 8 to 10 days, weather depending...

[Tonytee]

Excellent series, very sharp, colorful and seems to pull the viewer into all the excitement. That K-30 does a wonderful job. I would like to know which lens/lenses you used.

A lot of fun and thanks so much for sharing.

Tony

[skierd]

Mostly my DA*50-135, except the last four which were taken with my HD DA20-40mm Limited.

[pixie]

Very nice, thanks for sharing. GO GO GO is an award winner in my book.

[Unregistered User 8]

Great series Dave. The pups look like they are having a ball. Well taken.

[RoxnDox]

Beautiful series, thanks! Those dogs do look revved up and ready to RUN!