Iditarod 31 under way

FAIRBANKS -- Sixty-four dog teams departed Fairbanks southeast on the Chena River Monday morning, marking the official start of the 2003 Iditarod -- a race that was in limbo as recently as a few weeks ago.

Contender John Baker of Kotzebue was the first musher to leave the starting line at Pike's Landing Waterfront Lodge.

Baker took his initial strides toward Nome just minutes after 10 a.m. Monday. A parade of dog teams steadily began to race down the Chena River, officially starting the race -- and the strategy it takes to win the Iditarod. Those strategies changed in recent days as the trail was changed numerous times, forcing mushers to rethink their plan.

The 2003 edition of the Iditarod is truly historical. It marks the first time in 31 races that the restart has occurred outside of the Mat-Su Valley. Questionable conditions caused by the balmy winter weather of Southcentral Alaska forced the Iditarod Trail Committee to make a decision to move the race north.

From Fairbanks, mushers are heading 80 miles south on the Chena River to Nenana. From Nenana, participants will head east to Manley and hit the Yukon River.

The first mushers were expected to arrive in Manley late Monday. Most of the first leg of the race this year will be run on rivers.

The Fairbanks community welcomed mushers, organizers and race fans with open arms and embraced the opportunity to host the restart of the Last Great Race.

"Everybody in town is really excited about the Iditarod being here," Fairbanks resident Tom Williams said as he watched organizers build the chute on Sunday. "There are a lot of us who just don't get to go down to Anchorage and see the start. Nice that they gave us a chance to have this here."

Other than the location of the restart, preparations have been the same and according to the slew of Iditarod volunteers, this are going relatively smoothly.

"The people of Fairbanks have been very friendly," Iditarod volunteer Wendy Walters said.

Walters is among a group of volunteers brought up from Anchorage to help with the restart.

"It is a brand new place so the logistics are a little different," Walters said.

Walters and her fellow volunteers spent the afternoon setting up the chute and running fence on the river to separate fans from the dogs on race day.