WILLOW -- To the cheers of crowds lining the trail, DeeDee Jonrowe mushed her 16-dog team down the start chute on Willow Lake early this afternoon to get the 39th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race started.
Jonrowe, who lives just a few miles from the start, was beginning her 25th consecutive 1,000 mile race to Nome and her 29th overall. Sunny blue skies delivered a perfect day for the restart.
She has twice been runner-up without a victory. Nevertheless, she has been a huge crowd favorite for years, overcoming breast cancer and injuries sustained in a serious car accident to reach the start line year after year.
Busy thanking handlers and friends as the countdown to "go" neared zero, Jonrowe had to sprint to make it back to the runners of her sled on time. She went out at 2 p.m. Alaska time.
Behind Jonrowe were 61 other mushers ready to see if a year or more of training would pay off in the world's richest and most-prominent sled dog race.
Among them were three former champions, some with record-setting prospects.
• Four-time defending champion Lance Mackey of Fairbanks can extend his record for consecutive wins and tie Rick Swenson as the winningest Iditarod champion with five victories. The biggest crowd of race fans crowded around Mackey on Sunday.
• Martin Buser of Big Lake could also tie Swenson, but the fastest racer in Iditarod history has not won since 2002 and he slipped to 22nd last year.
• Mitch Seavey of Sterling won in 2004 and has been among the top-10 racers every year since. But this year Seavey may be overshadowed by his 24-year-old son, Dallas, who won the Yukon Quest a month ago and is a threat to add the title of Youngest Champion to the Youngest Starter title he already owns. Dallas' rookie Iditarod run started the day after he turned 18.
Along with the former champs is a slew of runners-up, up-and-comers, overdue contenders and intriguing prospects -- all ready to see what their dogs can do on the trail.
More than two hours after Jonrowe hits the trail, another Willow resident, Justin Savidis, will close out the proceedings as the 62nd and last musher on the trail. Last year, Savidis lost a dog named Whitey in the Farewell Burn between Rohn and Nikolai. A four-day search on land in the air ensued before the animal was found.
Mushers are chasing a $528,000 purse, down more than $300,000 from three years ago. The winner will take home $50,400.
The trail to Nome appears to be in top shape, according to race marshall Mark Nordman, with good snow cover throughout.
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Last year, it happened in a city supply room in White Mountain, near the finish line. Two back-of-the-pack mushers tested positive for THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana.
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