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:
The Funk siblings showed up to the 2022 Iditarod ceremonial start in matching snowsuits that their grandmother bought them. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Jeff King waves to fans at the 2022 Iditarod ceremonial start. A four-time winner of the Iditarod, King was asked to tap-in for Nic Petit who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week. As part of his last-minute preparation for the race, he had to try to get to know Petit’s dogs, who he compared to enthusiastic golden retrievers. On course, he’ll have to make due with supplies that Petit shipped out, and King said he’s hoping the trail snacks the Frenchman packed won’t be too strange. “I’m hoping it’s not full of french sardines or something,” he said with a laugh. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Musher Jessie Holmes. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Anna Berrington prepares for the ceremonial start. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Ruth Garcia provides sign language translations for the 2022 Iditarod ceremonial start. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Sonora Troger (left) and Josh Troger wear dog balaclavas as they cheer on mushers. They recently moved to Seattle and are celebrating Sonora’s 30th birthday. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Iditarod rookie Eric Kelly of Knik holds his dog Stealie, named after a Grateful Dead album. (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media)
Musher Ryan Redington. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Musher Dallas Seavey is seeking a record-setting 6th Iditarod victory in this year’s race. The 35-year-old said this year could be his last Iditarod, at least for a while. He told the Associate Press he wants to spend more time with his 12-year-old daughter. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Musher Joe Taylor. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Aaron Burmeister has run the Iditarod 20 times, and finished in second place last year. He said his team is as strong as it’s ever been this year. Still, he said, the warm weather could be a struggle. “We’ll be maybe going slow the first couple few days but that’s fine,” he said. “It’s early in the race and as the race kicks up, we’ll start shifting gears.” (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media)
Iditarod musher Kristy Berington and here IditaRider get high-fives on the Chester Creek Trail. (Tegan Hanlon/Alaska Public Media)
From left to right, Peter Su, Rylin Sonaerook, Morgan Su (in the stroller), Virgil Sonaerook and Kelly Su cheer on mushers as they pass by during the ceremonial start. The Sus just moved to Anchorage, and the Sonaerooks are originally from St. Lawrence Island. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Brent Sass waves to the crowd. “It looks better than it did last week,” Sass said of the weather. “Last week it was 40 degrees everywhere now the temperatures started going down a little bit, but we’ll take whatever we get.” One of the pre-race favorites, Sass has won three of the three mid-distance races he’s started this year. He placed third in the Iditarod last year. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Chatanika musher Dan Kaduce. Kaduce recently won the 200-mile version of the Yukon Quest in Fairbanks. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
From left to right, Vicky Steward, Syisha Steward, David Steward and Stormy Long cheer on mushers as they pass by. They traveled from Jacksonville, North Carolina, to watch and volunteer with the 2022 Iditarod. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Matt Hall gives high-fives along the Chester Creek Trail during the Iditarod. (Tegan Hanlon/Alaska Public Media)
Two Rivers musher Ryne Olson. “Once you’re on the trail, you only have one thing you have to focus on versus right now there’s, you’re still like trying to keep track of everything,” Olson said before the race start. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Rookie Bridgett Watkins has a quiet moment with her lead dogs. One of them, Razz, stayed by her side during a harrowing moose attack last month that seriously injured several of her dogs, and traumatized Watkins, an ER nurse in Fairbanks. “It has been taking everything in my power to get to the starting line so there’s going to be some celebration,” she said in an interview in late February. (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media)
Athena Gianopoulos (left) brought a sign to the 2022 Iditarod ceremonial start in hopes of finding a “missed connection” she’d met a couple months ago. One thing they had in common was an interest in the Iditarod. Her mother Debbie Weeks (right) came out to help. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Veteran musher Martin Buser takes a quick rest on his sled before the start of the Iditarod. Buser has finished the Iditarod 48 times. (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media)
Gerhardt Thiart waves to people cheering along the Chester Creek Trail. Thiart kept huskies at his home near Capetown, South Africa, when an acquaintance mentioned the Iditarod about 20 years ago. Thiart ordered some DVDs about the race and made his way to Alaska via Michigan. “Not in a million years I would have believed I will be standing here,” Thiart said. He’s racing with dogs from Mitch Seavey’s kennel and raising money for a foundation he set up to help American Army veterans. Thiart served in the South African army, and saw combat in Angola. (Tegan Hanlon/Alaska Public Media)
Karin Hendrickson heads out on course on the 2022 Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage on March 5, 2022 (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Two people wearing furs take a selfie during the Anchorage ceremonial start to the 2022 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Rookie Matt Paveglio dressed up as Larry the Enticer, a Canadian YouTuber famous for snowmachine stunts. Paveglio said he’s using the costume to spread love of mushing and to make sure he doesn’t take himself too seriously. “Cotton does kill, I’m approaching hypothermia,” he said. “I’m a moron.” (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media)
Wearing bib #47, musher Apayauq Reitan drives her dog team around a notoriously tough turn during the 2022 Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage. Her sled is waving the Trans Pride flag. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Shannon Cole waves a Trans Pride flag at the Anchorage ceremonial start of the 2022 Iditarod to celebrate Apayauq Reitan, the first out trans woman to run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Musher Yuka Honda, bib #49, takes a fall at a notoriously tight turn during the 2022 Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Wearing bib #50, musher Hugh Neff drives his dog team around a notoriously tough turn during the 2022 Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage. His caravan is waving the Ukrainian flag. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
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)
