Willow home of 2004 Restart

The Iditarod Trail Committee confirmed Monday that Willow will host the Restart of the 2004 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Organizers of the Last Great Race were forced to move the Restart north from Wasilla due to warming temperatures in the Mat-Su Valley. The new Wasilla Multi Use Sports Complex was to be the site of the 2004 Restart, but according to Iditarod Trail Committee president Rick Koch, the area around the complex posed the most problems.

"It starts at the sports complex, there is glare ice all the way to Knik," Koch said.

Mushers will now begin the trek to Nome from the Willow Community Center. Koch said once the committee had to explore other options for the Restart, Willow was the first choice.

"It is something we have done before, we know the drill," Koch said. "Once we have to make a change, the key is to keep things simple as possible."

Other than the bypassing of Wasilla and Knik, there will be very little change to the route to Nome. Mushers will begin in Willow and hit the Susitna River, just below the Deshka Landing. Participants will run the Susitna south and cut over to Yentna. From there mushers will take the trail north to Skwentna, Rohn and Nikolai. In even numbered years the northern trail is used, which takes mushers through checkpoints such as Ruby and Galena on their way toward Nome.

The move of the Restart has become a prominent topic within the Iditarod circle in recent years, due mainly to the warm temperatures and lack of snow southcentral Alaska has seen in the month of March. A call for a change in the permanent location of the Restart or start date of the race can now be argued.

"We have had more serious discussion about moving the dates," Koch said.

Koch said moving the Iditarod start date could be a problem if it interfered with the preliminary qualifiers. The committee has also pondered the idea of a different Restart site, such as Big Lake. An option would be to run from Big Lake to Knik, the home of former Iditarod legend Joe Redington Sr. and a sentimental stop on the trail for most mushers and Iditarod enthusiasts, and back up to Skwentna.

"There would be a whole lot of different trail," Koch said. "You run a risk of competitors making mistakes."

Mushers are set to depart Willow at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Anchorage will host the ceremonial start at 10 a.m. on Saturday. As of Monday morning, 87 mushers were entered in the race. The field includes such prominent mushers as Martin Buser, Doug Swingley, Jeff King and Dee Dee Jonrowe.