Joar near Safety...then Nome..

 here he is in a shot of mine from the restart in Willow.  will post more of those pictures as the other teams come through this week.  won't be long now until we have an official winner.  barring any incidents it will be Joar.  Congrats.  he has finished in the top 10 every time he has attempted this race, even his rookie year. I'm bummed for Nic but I'm happy to see Joar get his as well.  Joar Leifseth Ulsom out of Norway

 the rest of these are still from the ceremonial start in Anchorage.  mostly getting Brads team up to start point and then we drove to the end point to watch them come in there...it's near my place at Campbell airstrip.  the teams come down the airstrip last and back to their dog trucks to prep for the trek to Willow for the restart the next day.  above Scott tries to hold back the wild pack, he he!

 i was welcome to assist getting the team to the line, but it really seemed like something better for me to photograph for these happy tourists! hopefully, they liked their pictures..though i did miss Karen falling in the snow...i suspect she was probably okay with me missing that. the snow is all punchy and soft, especially by the time you get to team 65.  i joked that i had a full bladder and i was sure I'd fall over in the snow and then wet my pants...i live here so that could be embarrassing...so I'd take the photo's .

 it's what i do best anyway really...i like to write and take photo's to share with folks.  it makes me happy and it helps me to deal better with crowds...hide behind a camera.  i was just happy to  be welcomed and accepted by these cool Nova Scotia folks.

 being so close, Brad waited til the last minute to string out his team to go.  probably would have gone nuts watching team after team go by otherwise.  crowded street.

 right now Brad is in Unalakleet in 45th position.  he's dropped down a few spots, but he is doing a nice run of his rookie year i think.  part of the experience is meeting different folks and enjoying the various checkpoints.  if i was doing it i would want to linger a bit, snap some pics, get to meet the locals and enjoy the experience of it all.  many of these places have real character.  speed is great for those front teams, but considering Brad hopes to just make this one run (i still think he may do a repeat at some point, it can be a bit addicting) he would do great to linger a bit.

 he's like my friends Michelle and Jason, they can make lifetime friends anywhere with anyone.  people flock to folks like this and are willing to share what they have, experiences are the best things we all have in life.  soak it in out there.

 so Nic is much further back from Joar at this point.  i think he knows he can't catch Joar and that it's doubtful Mitch can catch him either. 

 in an interview with ADN he said he had a good cry, i think he said he cried like a baby.  exhaustion and emotions can get the best of you during an iditarod or any other major life altering event such as this.  so the frustration no doubt and the disappointment knowing what he had and what he lost got to him. i could tell in the interviews as well that he felt horrible for the dogs, that they had to do extra.  he felt he couldn't push them after that.

 after his cry he let it go, realized, who cares...i mean really...you get second instead of first in this 1000 mile long dog race...still pretty dam good.  he can be proud.  as folks used to say, that is how the cookie crumbles.  we fall, we get back up. 

 take care of folks at work who fail at suicide...the lesson, sometimes you learn more by not winning or completing than you do by being successful.  suicide is the best thing to fail at, by the way. not saying second is failure at all...but i suspect in that moment it can feel like it...then you realize what you and your team have actually accomplished and that some crap is just out of your control.

 we do spend far too much time being concerned with the win and not the ride.  our world is so competitive and I'm anti-competitive most of the time.

 though i do like a good debate...much to my brothers dismay today I'm sure.  it's a wacky world we live in right now. 

 the team moved toward the start line...i did grab onto the leaders...not sure if it was Jerry or the other dog in lead but they went over and took a pee on the sled that was attempting to pass by...it had an iditarider in it.  i took the reigns for a bit and apologized...silly puppies!

 we had a few more teams scratch today so we are up to 8 scratches i think.  on a really bad year, 2014 at least 14 scratched or withdrew...some with injuries. 

 Wade Marrs was out due to what sounds lie Pneumonia....he still had made a good run of it and was into Koyuk when he stopped.

 Schonberger, who was in last place with his Siberian Husky team scratched.  may have just been too warm and too deep of snow for his team.  like i said they generally will just say, "scratched for the health of the team or musher".  not much on details. 

 Moore, Aliy's partner scratched as well.  i thought it odd that he was so far in the back of the pack, so that explains that i guess. 2/3 Redingtons are out as well

 you can see what a short distance it is...the white truck to the left is Brad's rental...so pretty close to start line

 Brad leads then to the start

 dogs are excited to run

 today turned out really beautiful again. figured I'd catch the low tide at oceanview bluff park.  it's "warm" which means close to 30's i think so the snow was punchy everywhere. the melt is happening this week.  made for good heavy snow for snowmen building.

 oceanview has a great sledding hill so when i was done walking i hit the sledding hill.  the dogs got to run up and down and i enjoy sledding... i realize I'm over 50 and still out there sledding, but it's fun and when i was a kid i grew up in Los Angeles so i never got to sled...i had the hill to  myself for a bit, which was sweet!

 after I'd been home a bit i did go out back and made a snowman.  i didn't get to  make those as a kid either, there was a body dropped off near my house and a stabbing where they apparently ran through my yard...saw the drops of blood.  that is life in suburbian LA. 

 i can't say as I'm all that skilled in the snowman making but i have improved.  i do the sticks for arms, but i tend to just go a bit wild with the food coloring and make polka dot snowmen.  it's bright, it's colorful, it's happy.

 it will be a blended sloppy mess by the morning.

 work was crazy i guess.  probably should have just gone in.  soon i will need to take those hours for sure.  i have stuff set up for tomorrow though so i didn't go for it. hopefully, it's not too awful

 dogs are lined up next to go...as you can see they were pretty excited!

 good thing those lead dogs had already relieved those bladders. haha

 the crew is still trying to hold them back...great job dog handlers!

 the move up to the start...his name will be announced

 looks like Ivy got a bit of the food coloring on her too.  it wears off, usually on me.

 friends of Brad enjoy the sled ride forward, only Joe would be taking the trek through town, along with the Iditarider in the basket.  the guy in the carharts...can't recall his name, i believe is planning his trek to Nome next year as a rookie.

 Brad does one last check before he gets on the sled.

 there they are with the start sign above them

 Petit had found himself back on land...he needed to find the trail but he didn't want to find open water on the sea in his hunt.  there is risk and things can turn quickly on you out there...really anywhere up here.  there have been many injuries, but not human lives lost out there on this trail.  don't think there's been anything really even life threatening...burns.  i think someone  recently drank fuel instead of their water?  who told me that? can't remember now.  may have just read it somewhere too.

 the handlers release the ropes and the team takes off.

 Jessie Holmes is in the #8 spot last i checked.  he's on a reality tv show for nat geo i guess, "life below zero".  he attempted to take footage, but the battery died pretty fast.

 i keep forgetting to stop by the Hotel and see if there are dropped dogs to pet. perhaps tomorrow I'll check it out after my errands are done...and the dog walk...

 he is off for his run through town.

 on another note, Stephen Hawking passed away today.  he lived years beyond what was expected and lived as full of life as any person could.  someone posted this quote "the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge" so true.  another, "i believe alien life is  quite common in the universe, although intelligent life is less so.  some say it has yet to appear on planet Earth" for sure it seems to have disappeared from many in this administration.  "however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at it". "look up at the stars and not down at your feet.  try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist.  be curious".  and a favorite, "intelligence is the ability to adapt to change".  rest in peace brilliant man. 

 we watched the last few teams leave downtown and then headed out ourselves...what a super fun day though.  Thanks Brad and friends for letting us into the party!!  we had a blast!

 Hugh Neff brought up the rear.  he's a ran of cat in the hat and reading programs. 

 here we have arrived at the airstrip in time to watch Brad and Joe come in..the snow was falling pretty hard by the time we got there.

 Unalakleet through a Iditarod retirement party for DeeDee...pretty cool.  one resident noted that folks don't stop and chat in the checkpoints like they used to.  it's gotten so fast.  time to slow it down a bit i think.  she ran her first Iditarod in 1980. 

 i could tell they were both pretty excited and somewhat surprised by the nearly 12 mile block party they had just run through here in Anchorage.  people do line the way for much of it, having tailgate parties and handing out food/drinks to the teams.  the teams in turn often toss out used booties for the kids.

 really liked how these turned out with the snow...especially the two below. 

 one with the run, just heading to the truck again.  i better turn in for the night.  i may pop out a few times to check the live feed...could be late for Joar coming in, but always fun to watch the teams roll in. i can watch the video later too if i crash. 

thankful for:  A.  a front row seat to a fun event this year!!  :-)  thanks Brad!  B.  sledding, no matter how old i am...a favorite photo is of my Grandpa's mom sledding with kids as an older lady.  C.  snowmen...why did i have to miss sledding and snowmen as a kid...thankfully, i get to enjoy them now