Gentlemen, start your huskies

WILLOW — With all the pageantry and fun of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race Restart, perhaps no one who is not racing to Nome makes as much of a splash as the “K-9 Fairies.”

Made up of more than a dozen women and girls dressed up in bright pink costumes, the group’s goal is to bring goodwill to mushers as well as raise breast cancer awareness.

“We just cheer ’em on and have a good time,” fairie Sarah Heintzman said.

Now in its 12th year, the group spent much of Sunday afternoon slapping hands with mushers and handing out candy bars to fellow spectators.

K-9 Fairy Lori Koutsky said the idea is to have fun and support a worthy cause at the same time.

“Our blessing is, ‘There’s no place like Nome,’” Koutsky said. The Fairies also participate in the annual Relay for Life event and raised $450 during last year’s walk for cancer research.

On Sunday, the group cheered each of the 95 dog teams as they crossed the lake, jumping up and down and yelling encouragement as each team trotted past. Though all mushers got plenty of love, the biggest cheers of the afternoon were reserved for defending champion Lance Mackey — a throat cancer survivor — and Willow’s DeeDee Jonrowe — a breast cancer survivor who now races clad in a pink racing jacket to help raise breast cancer awareness.

For more information on the K-9 Fairies or Relay for Life, visit www.matsu-relay.org.

— Matt Tunseth