iditarod: Race Start

The start of the race is often called the media start of fake start. Today we were in Anchorage. They truck snow in and cover 3-4 miles until the musher can get out on the trail. The musher also has an Iditarider who pays about $50,000 to ride with the musher and their team for Saturday. The time from today does not count in the race.
Tomorrow is the re-start/real start. Tomorrow is way more serious. The mushers are much more focused (we were instructed to speak with them today and ask questions today but not tomorrow). Also, only OFFICIAL media are allowed within the fence.
Today were were up at 5:00 AM. We were in Anchorage by 6:20 AM. We got the priveldege, thanks Rae, to scan the dogs identification chips before the race. Having had handeling expierence, being able to scan chips was my favorite part of the day. We had one on one time with the mushers and with the dogs! The mushers were very nice and most of the dogs were very lovable. There were no mean dogs but some were just a little nervous around strangers.
After scanning the chips we then were assigned to our team. We were assigned Bob Storey's team (talked about him in another section). We got his team because Rae's, our boss, professor owned that team of dogs (Bob is leasing them). Rae promised her a good crew.
Fun Facts:
We got free hot chocolate, hot cider, coffee and cookies. You know I was happy! They also had someone sing the National Anthem.