Anna had a long but good day on Thursday, with a musher meeting early in the day and the musher meet-and-greet followed by the banquet and bib draw Thursday afternoon and evening. There wasn’t time in between the morning and afternoon events to roundtrip from Anchorage back out to the kennel in Knik, so Anna had a little woosah time in the interim.
And this is one of the great things about only one of the Seeing Double duo running in the race - the other can skip the meetings and take care of the dogs at the kennel. Kristy did hitch a ride with a friend to the banquet, however, as she was Anna’s +1 a for the evening. Naturally.
By all accounts, the banquet went really well and was thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance. Which apparently topped 1,100 people! Anna had 3 full tables dedicated to ticket purchasers - sponsors, fans - that requested a seat in her vicinity. Anna took a stack of this year’s flyers with her, and, smart cookie that she is, autographed them all the night before. Well played on avoiding the sharpie scramble and hand cramp!
Toward the end of the banquet, mushers queued up to draw their bib number and thus starting position for the race. I believe those mushers who signed up during the 2024 Summer Picnic were the first to draw, so Anna knew in advance that she would land a number between 2 and 20. She pulled #12, and that’s just fine with her. In prior years when both of the twins were competitors, we were all hoping the twins would draw numbers close enough together that it wouldn’t be a struggle to align on the trail and travel together. But not so close that leaving the same dog truck, within minutes of each other, with the same group of handlers, would be a struggle.
Thus Anna will be the 11th musher to leave the official restart line Monday morning.
Wait one - 11th? Type-o? No. Bib #1 is reserved for an honorary musher each year, and the first true competitive bib is #2 - thus Anna being the 11th one off the restart line in Bib #12. This year, the Iditarod’s honorary Bib #1 musher is Dr. Stuart Nelson Jr. DMV, or Dr. Stu. He worked with the Iditarod for over 38 years, first as an Iditarod trail vet for nine years before becoming the Iditarod’s chief veterinarian in 1995 (per Iditarod.com). He passed away suddenly in 2024.
Dr. Stu was an icon of the Iditarod, well known and well respected by mushers and race organizers alike. Not to mention the overall mushing community in Alaska. Anna and Kristy sought his veterinary advice with complete confidence and will be missing him during this year’s race.
A race for which preparations continue. After the banquet Thursday night, Anna and Kristy were back at it Friday with errands, chores, and getting a couple dogs teams out for a “run around the block”. Which, if memory serves, amounts to an 8-10 mile loop run near the kennel. They’ll finish packing up everything Friday night for the Ceremonial Start and will hit the road early for that event Saturday morning.
Mushers launch at 10am AKST (do your own time zone conversions, if you please), including a sled with a stand-in musher in Bib #1 honoring Dr. Stu. In a change from prior years, mushers will launch in 3 minute increments for the C-start. So if you want to watch Anna leave the starting line live, I would be in front of Iditarod.com by 10:25am AKST, to be safe.
I’ll be back with a recap of the uber abbreviated Ceremonial Start late Saturday.
Have a great weekend!
And this is one of the great things about only one of the Seeing Double duo running in the race - the other can skip the meetings and take care of the dogs at the kennel. Kristy did hitch a ride with a friend to the banquet, however, as she was Anna’s +1 a for the evening. Naturally.
By all accounts, the banquet went really well and was thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance. Which apparently topped 1,100 people! Anna had 3 full tables dedicated to ticket purchasers - sponsors, fans - that requested a seat in her vicinity. Anna took a stack of this year’s flyers with her, and, smart cookie that she is, autographed them all the night before. Well played on avoiding the sharpie scramble and hand cramp!
Toward the end of the banquet, mushers queued up to draw their bib number and thus starting position for the race. I believe those mushers who signed up during the 2024 Summer Picnic were the first to draw, so Anna knew in advance that she would land a number between 2 and 20. She pulled #12, and that’s just fine with her. In prior years when both of the twins were competitors, we were all hoping the twins would draw numbers close enough together that it wouldn’t be a struggle to align on the trail and travel together. But not so close that leaving the same dog truck, within minutes of each other, with the same group of handlers, would be a struggle.
Thus Anna will be the 11th musher to leave the official restart line Monday morning.
Wait one - 11th? Type-o? No. Bib #1 is reserved for an honorary musher each year, and the first true competitive bib is #2 - thus Anna being the 11th one off the restart line in Bib #12. This year, the Iditarod’s honorary Bib #1 musher is Dr. Stuart Nelson Jr. DMV, or Dr. Stu. He worked with the Iditarod for over 38 years, first as an Iditarod trail vet for nine years before becoming the Iditarod’s chief veterinarian in 1995 (per Iditarod.com). He passed away suddenly in 2024.
Dr. Stu was an icon of the Iditarod, well known and well respected by mushers and race organizers alike. Not to mention the overall mushing community in Alaska. Anna and Kristy sought his veterinary advice with complete confidence and will be missing him during this year’s race.
A race for which preparations continue. After the banquet Thursday night, Anna and Kristy were back at it Friday with errands, chores, and getting a couple dogs teams out for a “run around the block”. Which, if memory serves, amounts to an 8-10 mile loop run near the kennel. They’ll finish packing up everything Friday night for the Ceremonial Start and will hit the road early for that event Saturday morning.
Mushers launch at 10am AKST (do your own time zone conversions, if you please), including a sled with a stand-in musher in Bib #1 honoring Dr. Stu. In a change from prior years, mushers will launch in 3 minute increments for the C-start. So if you want to watch Anna leave the starting line live, I would be in front of Iditarod.com by 10:25am AKST, to be safe.
I’ll be back with a recap of the uber abbreviated Ceremonial Start late Saturday.
Have a great weekend!
 Anna autographs the 2025 Iditarod poster for a fan. Guess she needed that sharpie after all! |  Anna just as she has drawn her #12 Bib chip for 2025. |
