Opening Day of 2012 Iditarod

The race opened yesterday with ceremony in Anchorage, and officially started out of Willow today. I have to say, I've never been as into this race as I am currently. With that new found interest, I have run the gamete of thoughts and feelings. Here are some, in no particular order. It all started with Chloe's interest in Alaska a few months back. Or even almost a year now, after Aunt Penny went and sent her a post card. She claimed it her favorite state. So I set out to help her know more facts about Alaska and in doing so, I too started to like the state and what better icon to learn about, but the greatest race on earth, the Iditarod. We read Balto books and saw the movie. We looked on maps and watched YouTube videos of past year Iditarods. I started to know the mushers names, their lingo, the cities along the trail. That on even years they run the north trail consisting of The Steps, a difficult part of the trail that dumps many a mushers and their sleds. This March 3, I was all set, even stoked, to see as much coverage of the event as I could. I became Face book friends with Anchorage Daily News. I also found www.iditarod.com that for 19.99, you can stream it live. I bought it. So as as I'm watching the official start today I reflect on how awesome this task is and how rugged, and amazing these men, women, and dogs are. This is pretty balls of a thing to do. And in this age of GPS tracking, head & sled cams, live streams and mega sponsors, I'm looking for the soul that these people have for the race. I mean, do they realize the epic journey this race represents. I hear and see it in a few of the old timers, but these new mushers, the media coverage, the high tech gear, the nearly $400,000 it takes a year to maintain a top racing team. It just feels a little like the stats over the screen with a small live video is separating me from the deeper meaning of the race. That triumphant, man and his dogs against wild terrain and even worse weather. I'm grateful for the additional information and the ability to watch as much of it as I can from the comfort of my living room, but the PBS, emotional jerker of a story I was conjuring up thoughts of is just not how they spin it now. It's a little like motor cross coverage.