Volunteers vie for Iditarod jobs

WASILLA -- Three dozen people already in the grip of Iditarod fever spent Saturday afternoon learning about options for volunteering during this year's race.

They met at Iditarod headquarters on Knik-Goose Bay Road to sign volunteer applications, renew friendships with those they've worked with at past Iditarods, and generally ramp up their excitement as the countdown to the March 6 ceremonial start continues.

With the largest field in Iditarod history -- more than 100 teams -- race officials have special need for handlers both at the Anchorage start and the restart in Wasilla on March 7.

"We'll need 10 trained handlers for all teams," said Race Director Joanne Potts.

Training sessions for those who want to hold dogs as they're brought to the starting line is set for Feb. 21 at the Eagle River VFW. Potts said the job is viewed as glamorous by many first-timers, but each year some neophytes quit early when they become exhausted after securing only a few teams of the excited canines until the starting command.

Those who'd rather work with telephones than restraining 45-pound Alaskan huskies might choose to volunteer in the phone room at the Millennium Hotel in Anchorage. Marty Rogers, a phone room veteran, said the room is staffed round the clock to take calls from interested fans.

"We get teachers who'll have their whole classroom call," she said. "It's really fun."

The Iditarod has become such a popular classroom tool that teachers in Europe, as well as Alaska and the Lower 48, are frequent callers, Rogers said.

Rogers, whose husband is a musher, told those at the meeting that she isn't cut out for the rugged work at checkpoints. She encouraged others like her to consider working the phones.

"I don't do any combination of cold, dark, snow or ice," she said. "I get to sleep in a warm bed."

Training dates for phone volunteers are Feb. 21 and Feb. 24 at the Millennium Hotel.

Rogers acknowledged that fewer telephone calls are received since race updates have been put on the Internet. Still, there's a place for the low-tech approach.

"Some callers would just rather talk to a real person," she said.

Six or seven people are needed throughout daytime hours to respond to a mountain of e-mails fans send during the race. That need has sprung up as people began following the race on the Web.

For those who savor the rigors of the Bush, volunteering to work in communications is a way to break into the competitive battle for checkpoint positions, Potts said. Checkpoint personnel log the times that mushers arrive and depart, and the number of dogs they are driving. That information is sent back to Anchorage to update the Web site and for those working the phone and e-mail beats.

"It's hard work," Potts cautioned. "You may be working 20 hours out of 24. You'll bust your butt. We can't put many people in each checkpoint so those who are there have to work hard."

Still, she said many volunteers savor the challenge.

One of the oddest ways to volunteer happens Feb. 24 when foot ointment is made for the dogs. People gather at Iditarod headquarters to mix zinc oxide, Triple-A ointment, oil and other exotic ingredients into a salve that will soothe dogs' feet on the trail. Once the compound is produced, it's put into tubes for mushers to administer.

There's a side benefit for volunteers who make foot ointment.

"It's messy but it's good for your hands," Potts said. "It makes them feel real good when the day is over."

Those attending Saturday's meeting ranged from a first-time Iditarod volunteer spending the winter in Willow after selling her home in Southern California to a die-hard volunteer from Willow with several years of volunteering under her belt.

The latter, Jan Johnson, has been volunteering since 1992. She sat in the first row and took copious notes.

"I love the dogs," she said. "I love the mushers. It's just fun to volunteer. I'd like to do crowd control but I'll work anywhere they want to put me."

Crowd control during the ceremonial start and the restart is more difficult than it might appear, Iditarod staffer Deby Trosper told the audience.

"The public is generally pretty polite," she said, "but every once in a while you have someone who gets over-ambitious."

Volunteers assigned to crowd control must prevent fans from standing in the dogs' way or from trying to touch a dog while it runs past, Trosper said. That can be a tall order when up to 3,500 people converge on Wasilla to watch the restart.

Although those who attended Saturday's meeting got their applications in early, Iditarod officials emphasize that hundreds more people are needed. Potts said it's hard to give enough thanks to the volunteers, who number about 1,800 per year on average.

"There's no way the Iditarod could do this without the volunteers," Potts said.