Mushers depart Willow on way to Nome

WILLOW — As he completed his final preparations for Iditarod 40, Ryan Redington had a great view of the musher he knows best.

Across the staging area his brother Ray Redington Jr., wearing bib No. 2, would be first out of the chute. Brother Ryan brought up the rear, drawing bib number 67 at the musher’s banquet Thursday night.

“It’s pretty neat for being the 40th year of the race to have a Redington going first and a Redington going last,” Ryan said.

And he said doesn’t mind being last.

“I know I start off last but we won’t end up that way,” Ryan said. “We might have some pretty chewed up trail in the beginning but Iditarod has put a lot of work into the trail so it will be better than other years.”

Iditarod gives its bib No. 1 to a ceremonial musher who doesn’t actually race. This year that was longtime volunteer, race co-founder Joe Redington’s right-hand-man and four-time finisher Dave Olson.

The total number of mushers out of Willow this year was 66. Many were veterans and quite a few were former champions. Crowds of people, many barbequing, many more snapped photos, lined the starting chute along the trail across Willow Lake and beyond. They watched teams take off in two-minute intervals, mushers waving and dogs barking.

Lance Mackey, whose four back-to-back victories secure him a solid spot in the pantheon of great Iditarod mushers, said although he didn’t come in first last , he plans to be competitive this year. Or not. Either way, he’s fine with it.

“Last year I went into the Iditarod thinking, ‘hell yeah, I got a dog team that can win the Iditarod a fifth straight time.’ But then I crashed into a reality check,” Mackey said.

He thinks the problem was that he was racing to win that year, rather than other years when he was racing for fun and winning was secondary. He doesn’t plan to be caught in that trap this year.

“I will have a smile on my face when I get there, whether I’m first or 61st,” Mackey said.

Like Ryan and Ray, Iditarod is a family affair for Mackey and Anjanette Steer of Sheep Mountain. She paused to get ketchup on a hot dog fresh off the grill answering a reporter’s questions. Her parking spot on the lake was packed with family. She’s racing with some of her husband, Zack Steer’s, dogs. She’s a rookie this year. Asked what she expects to find out there, she said adventure, beautiful scenery but, mostly, the unknown.

“I think that’s what makes it so exciting for a rookie,” she said. “Maybe this is mundane for Martin Buser or DeeDee Jonrowe because they’ve done it 30 times but I tell you what, I’m excited,” Steer said.

For his part, Buser, of Big Lake, said restart day on his 29th Iditarod found him, “relaxed and organized, excited and waiting for the ‘3, 2, 1 go!’”

He said after running the race more than two dozen times he is confident this year’s race will be another challenging trip up the trail.

“I don’t think there is ever an easy Iditarod,” Buser said.

As your experience grows so do your expectations. A rookie might be happy just to get to Nome but a veteran would be disappointed not to finish high in the rankings. A really competitive veteran might not be satisfied without a win, he said.

“Everybody will be challenged to the max,” Buser said. “I call it the ultimate equal opportunity sport.”

Representing another Iditarod legacy family, Buser’s son Rohn also is racing this year. Asked if there was any competition betwen father and son for the best dogs, Buser replied, “ownership has its privileges.”

O.K., but, seriously, who has the better team?

“We’ll tell you in Nome,” Buser said.

Wade Marrs, of that storied Knik mushing community, is racing for a second time. He said his rookie year put him into Nome in 47th place.

“I was just having fun last time,” he said.

So no fun this year?

“It’s always for fun but we’re going to try to be a little bit more serious about it this time,” Marrs said.

He said the team works all year toward race day.

“It’s a pretty big deal. I spend all my time and money on it,” he said of mushing.

As for trail conditions, before the start mushers including Marrs, Redington, Buser and Mackey, said they were worried about water overflow on the trail that could make for some rough, slushy trails out of Willow.

Mackey said he was pretty relaxed as start time approached, but not when he thought about that slush.

“That’s the thing that’s got my guts turning right now,” he said.

After that slushy start, mushers, taking into account the winter Alaska has had this year, were predicting a lot of deep snow. Mackey joked that all that snow might turn what should be an eight-day race into a 28-day race.

Ryan Redington said he is also prepared for lots of the white stuff.

“I hope that it’s not too much, though,” he said.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.