ANCHORAGE, Alaska—Big crowds converged on Alaska’s largest city Saturday, March 3, as hundreds of dogs and their humans kicked off the 47th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race with a ceremonial sprint along snow-heaped streets.
The fan-friendly event in Anchorage brought spectators up close to the 52 musher-dog teams gearing up for the famed 1,000-mile race. Mushers are generally more relaxed here than they will be for the real thing. But the dogs barked furiously before setting off, jumping and straining against their sled lines in apparent excitement to get going on the 11-mile dash.
