| The
Ceremonial Start
By Bonnie Foster
March 6, 2007
It was a clear cool early morning in Eagle River when Eric, Lexi
and Leslie loaded the dogs up in the dog truck to trek on down to
4th Avenue for the ceremonial start of the 2007 Iditarod. Jim and
I met them on the Ave. We were in the same place as last year as
Eric had chosen the same bib #21. By the time we arrived, the dogs
had been dropped and the fantastic breakfast buffet had been set
up by one of our sponsors, the Northern Restaurant Group. There
was free coffee for all the fans who passed by.
Everyone was unsure what sled would
be used for the Iditarider and it was decided the evening before
that my “Bernie” sled would be used as it was good for
a passenger as opposed to Eric’s Art Church sled because of
the way was designed. The tag sled again this year would be my Risdon
Protracker, which is a light sprint sled. Everyone had recovered
from our open house the day before and everyone had a good night’s
sleep.
The open house was a great success. Many
people came to wish Sebastian and Eric well. There were several other
mushers who came to give their support and Libby Riddles was gracious
enough to give autographs and tell trail stories from her days on
the trail. Great food, good conversations and friends. Oh yes, and
the dogs…..There were dogs all over the house,. On the floor,
on the couch, under the tables, up the stairs…..All told I believe
there must have been as many as 10-12 dogs in the house all having
a wonderful time. They were truly the stars of the party.
Eric receives blessings from Father Francis Hurley |
One of the dog sponsors, Pat Schue,
made wonderful booties and scarves for the dogs to wear on the start.
They were all made in the kennel’s colors and looked quite
spectacular. The highlight before the start was the blessing of
the musher and of the dogs by the Archbishop. Eric had been given
a St. Rita’s medal to carry with him and that was also blessed.
There were hundreds of people along the Avenue congratulating each
other and having a wonderful time cheering for “their musher”.
Our Iditarider, Claudia, was there. We had met her the day before
as both Sebastian’s and Eric’s Iditariders were at the
open house.
Finally it was time to ready the sleds,
harness and bootie the dogs and get hooked up. We had Claudia wrapped
in a special Buffalo robe to keep her toasty and comfortable and down
the Ave we went to the start. Eric was on and off the sled, I took
the tag sled down 4th Ave along with Eric’s wife, Marti. Lexi
and Leslie were with the dogs…..Dijon and Dash were in lead…….and
loving it ……The crowds never fazed them in the least.
Two minute countdown……..People
screaming and yelling, dogs hammering at the harnesses, handlers holding
onto the leashes attached to the gangline, TV cameras and announcers
introducing each musher over the melee, excitement is at a fever pitch……10
seconds to go, Eric is back on the sled after saying a word and giving
a hug to each dog in line, 9 seconds to go, gives his wife a kiss,
8 seconds, makes sure Claudia, is tucked in, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, handlers
take off the leashes, 2, dogs going crazy as they know there is 1
second to go and they are off……….down 4th Ave, to
the cheers of the crowd, and around the corner headed for Cordova
St. hill
All is well with the world, and the
dogs are silent as they run
through the streets of Anchorage.
Bonnie
© 2007 All rights reserved
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