Aliy Zirkle – Iditarod Musher - Part 1


For something a little different . . . Iditarod 38 is ‘over’ with a champion crowned but there are still 16 teams on the trail heading for Nome.  After the excitement of the race to be first there are some other interesting stories and things beginning to show up that I think you will like. 

These videos were provided by SP Kennel’s Aliy Zirkle (finished 16th Team Red) & her husband musher Allen Moore (finished 35th Team Black) on their website, from YouTube, and KTUU Channel 2 News. 

These video clips will give you a sled’s eye view of what it is to run the Iditarod, the beauty of the countryside, the solitude and loneliness of no one around for miles except your dogs . . . and possibly the wild animals in the Alaskan wilderness. 

Please take the time to Enjoy!

This before the start of Iditarod 38 is a KTUU Channel 2 interview with Aliy Zirkle who has ran the Iditarod since 2001 when I first moved to Alaska.  She was the first woman to win the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race in 2000 a similar long distance race held in February that covers the expanse from Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territories of Canada to Fairbanks.  She has been one of my favorites to watch and follow since I came to Alaska.


On their SP Kennel’s website she and her family (staff) have been posting Aliy’s journey along the Iditarod Trail from her “Aliy Cam” mounted on her sled.  They have just started uploading so I wanted to give you a unique view of what it is to be on the starting line and heading out into the wilderness.

Saturday Morning’s Ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage is a 15 mile run beginning on Fourth Avenue and then making a right turn onto “A” Street where it leads to a bike trail system past neighborhoods, University of Alaska Anchorage, the Native Medical Center and finishing at the Campbell Airstrip Airport.


The official re-start from Willow, Alaska just outside Anchorage on Sunday morning after the ceremonial start begins the thousand plus miles to Nome.  The re-start area is a big lake and leads out across the lake through a housing area and back onto the river leading out into the wilderness.  The video is shot from the sled’s viewpoint and you can see what the musher, Aliy sees as she begins her 1,100 mile adventure to Nome.

There are thousands of spectators who line the first 10 to 15 miles of the trail that ride snow machines out to greet the mushers and wish them well.  Many stand hoping to get a “high five” as the musher and dogs get into the rhythm of the run.

Enjoy these three to four minute clips from a musher’s vantage point.


There are more to come so look for Part 2 showing life along the trail in the cold isolation of the Alaska Range, approaching a checkpoint, a run across a frozen ocean and the finish in Nome.

Thanks to SP Kennel (Skunk’s Place Kennel) for an amazing adventure for those of us who long to experience this unique and wonderful sport.

Ice

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