Forty-nine mushers and hundreds of sled dogs dashed 11 miles through a snowy Anchorage on Saturday for the ceremonial start of the 2022 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Alaska Public Media’s Jeff Chen reports:
People lined downtown streets and city trails to give mushers high-fives and take photos. Kids collected candy and dog booties tossed by mushers as they glided by.
It was the first ceremonial start since 2020. Last year’s was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some fans on Saturday, including Anchorage resident Julie Sweetin, said it felt great to be back to “normal-ish.”
“This is our big crew of friends in Alaska, like we have friends who came up from Homer, from Kenai, from Talkeetna — all over,” she said. “And the last big party we all had, especially in a public place, was Iditarod 2020. Right before the world shut down. So this is full circle for us, definitely.”
Here’s our favorite photos from the day:
![](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-1-600x400.jpg)
![A man with a light blue parka holds his arms up as he stands on a sled in heavy snow. A nother man in a fur-ruffed parka sits on the sled in front of him and crowds watch on the sidelines.](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-11-600x400.jpg)
![](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-22-600x400.jpg)
![](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-24-600x400.jpg)
![A white man with glasses and a beard holds a black and orangish dog](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_4116-600x400.jpg)
![A man wearing a black parka and a white bib #20 smiles as he rides through buildings](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-28-600x400.jpg)
![A man wearing a red cap and with a white cigarette in his mouth raises his hand as heavy snow falls](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_4163-600x400.jpg)
![A person in a sled gives high fives](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_7898-600x450.jpg)
![](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-35-600x400.jpg)
![A man in an orange parka waves to the crowd with his hand on a sled runner](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-38-400x600.jpg)
![A white man wearing bib 28 grimaces as snow flies into his face](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-39-400x600.jpg)
![](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-45-600x400.jpg)
![people line a snowy trail and give high fives to a musher](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_7929-600x489.jpg)
![A team of dogs pulls a sled in heavy snowfall](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-46-600x400.jpg)
![A woman bows her head wearing a helmet to cuddle with two blond sled dogs as heavy snow falls.](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_4184-600x400.jpg)
![](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-48-600x400.jpg)
![A person in a big fur-ruffed parka sleeps on a sled](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_4147-600x400.jpg)
![a musher waves from the back of a sled on a snowy day](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_7956-600x450.jpg)
![A woman in a black parka wearing a white bib holds onto dog sled handlbars in heavy snow as some people watch from behind her](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-50-600x400.jpg)
![people wearing furs take a selfie](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-52-600x400.jpg)
![A man dressed in a denim jacket drinks a coke zero wearing an orange safety helmet](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_4226-600x400.jpg)
![A woman in a furruffed parka drives a sled through heavy snow with a person in a thick down jacket sits in a sled in front of her](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-61-600x400.jpg)
![A woman holding a blue and pink striped flag in a snow storm](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-81-600x400.jpg)
![A woman driving a sled nearly tips it over as dogs ru in front of her in heavy snow](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-66-600x400.jpg)
![three people in a dog sled caravan: a person in the sled, a person in a Dr. Seuss hat, and another with the Ukrainian flag](https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220305_Iditarod_ceremonial_start_Anc_CHEN-79-400x600.jpg)
Image at top: Musher Yuka Honda’s dogs excitedly wait to run again after recovering from a notoriously tight turn during the 2022 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ceremonial start. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)