Joe Redington Jr. Archives - KNOM Radio Mission

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Iditarod ’18 Starts With Ceremony, Song, and Protest

By Davis Hovey | March 5, 2018

Three men sing on an Anchorage street holding Alaska-Native-style drums

On the streets of downtown Anchorage on Saturday was the usual throng of dog handlers, mushers, and race fans, there to see the annual Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod. New this year was the presence of a protest group from PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which opposes the race.

Starting Positions Set for 2018 Iditarod; 67 Mushers to Depart from Willow on Sunday

By Davis Hovey | March 2, 2018

Miss Alaska 2017, Angelina Klapperich, poses next to the trophy (bearing a likeness of the late Joe Redington, Sr.) that will be given to the 2018 Iditarod champion.

After bib #1 was dedicated to this year’s honorary musher, the late Joe Redington, Jr., Cody Strathe and all the other 66 registered mushers drew numbers from a traditional mukluk boot during Thursday night’s mushers banquet in Anchorage. Strathe will be the first musher to leave Willow Sunday afternoon.