Iditarod BBQ 2018

Last night I was so tired after a long day of driving and "extroverting" that I did a very short blog post about the BBQ before passing out for the night. I live in Kenai which is a 4 hour drive (one way) to Wasilla... on a good day... without traffic... or a dad who wants to stop at Cabella's for a man's version of retail therapy... and who also drinks way too much fluids when road tripping if you get my drift. I guess he's getting me back for that summer of potty training when I'm pretty sure I waited until no bathrooms were in sight and I just had to go behind a bush on the side of the road.

But I digress, you're not hear to read about my road trip woes (it really wasn't that bad).

The BBQ was not as well attended as in year's past. Normally by noon the overflow parking is filled with dog trucks and volunteer cars alike, but when we got there only a handful were there. This is a huge field to park in, so it was a very noticeable difference. There is no doubt, to me, that the "woes of the ITC" in the last two years are starting to greatly affect the long standing fans and volunteers along with the mushers. You cannot have a race the size of the Iditarod without those, but it seems the ITC is still more concerned with protecting their seats than the race.

After parking we made our way to the gift shop, where I ran into my first musher - Iditarod Rookie Blair Braverman. As I said in a previous blog post, she flew in from Wisconsin to sign up for her first Iditarod. I've "known" her husband for 4 years as he followed me on twitter, and I think it was a year later he suggested I follow Blair - and I'm glad I listened. Blair is such a positive voice for the sport - she just makes it fun. She is a kick to follow on twitter, and if you like sled dog puppies (I love them) then you definitely want to follow her, too.

I didn't actually spot her, she spotted me as I walked into the gift shop and she shouted my name. It's a small room, but I think we were all shocked that we'd finally managed to be in the same place at the same time (we missed meeting up at the restart this year, her husband worked at Ididaride one summer and I never saw him, it's crazy!). After exchanging hugs and introductions to my dad, they pointed out that Mitch Seavey was in the room next door and so Q went to interview him, Blair and I chatted and realized he was never coming back so we went in search. It was an interesting conversation considering Mitch had let the world know just a few days before that he was considering sitting out next year's race. Mitch attended the meeting that morning in hopes of having his concerns listened do and addressed, we had a very interesting conversation (for instance they are changing the "dropped dog" term to "returned dog" and it sounds like that was a heated debate in what the new term should be).

Trying to convince the three-time champion that social media is a great tool.

I'm still very much Team Seavey so I am biased, but I do feel that Mitch - as always - has a really good perspective on the issue and that he's thought it through. A part of me wants him to run and just to hell with the rest of them, but another part of me wants him to stand firm. I don't know if there is a right answer. I'd like to think Mitch is right, because it's the closest to what I think, but I'm not sure. I do know that there's a lot of hurt, and a lack of trust, and it's not just Seavey... and they're not the ones who started it. There was a quietness to the event this year that just seemed to hang in the air.



Once we left Mitch it was time for Blair to head to the registration tent and sign up for her first Iditarod. This is a dream come true and I was so honored to be there to capture the moment! For someone who was a ball of nerves, she was at ease with signing up as she was surrounded by familiar faces like Meredith Mapes who ran her rookie Iditarod this year, and Kristin Bacon gave her a giant hug and was all excited to see Blair achieve her dream.

Kristin Bacon was very excited to welcome the first rookie of 2019.

Does any other sport have athletes so supportive of each other?

I left Blair to finish up her sign up and wandered over to take in the wonderful offerings from Golden Corral. I settled on the BBQ Chicken, and I was in love with their pasta salad. So yummy! And of course who can say no to fresh baked chocolate chip cookies?! Golden Corral is a fantastic sponsor of the Last Great Race, and we all made sure to thank them for once again providing a wonderful meal for us all. Golden Corral also gives vouchers for a free meal to all the volunteers that help with the Ceremonial Start (and I assume every volunteer, but I only volunteer for the start so I can't swear to it). My dad LOVES GC so I'm pretty sure that's what keeps him coming back year after year (not me whining that I neeeeeeed him to drive me up there).

One positive of a smaller group at the BBQ meant that there was more chance of long interactions with mushers. They were easier to spot to snap pictures of, but honestly I spent most of my time chatting with them and with friends. Normally it's easier for me to just stand back and people watch, but with less press of people you could breathe and relax.

2018 Iditarod Rookie Meredith Mapes sat on the other side of the table and
helped register mushers for the 2019 race. Mapes is not running Iditarod this year.

Emily Maxwell signing up for Iditarod 2019.

Ramey Smyth and Mitch Seavey having a chat during the BBQ. Smyth signed
up for Iditarod 2019, Mitch is still waiting to hear from the ITC before he will
decide to race or not. 

The teacher on the trail was also introduced to the volunteers and - per tradition - he received the ToT sleeping bag. He's a bit taller than most of the past teachers, so a conversation started up about how he might not fit in the bag, but we were all assured that he had already tested it out and he does indeed fit. He is an 8th grade teacher which also got a lot of attention as most teachers teach younger grades, so teachers in attendance who have jr high or high school classes were excited to see what he could come up with for their age groups.

Handing over the sleeping bag.

Like I said, he's tall.

As time got closer to when the musher drawing was to take place (two mushers are drawn to win their entry fee back), several familiar faces showed up like Jeff King and Martin Buser. Both 4-time Champions are back for Iditarod 2019 and join Joar Leifseth Ulsom as past champions racing for another win. 3 Champions signed up, four were in attendance with Mitch... who quietly left without signing up when the registration table closed down at 2:30. With so many visitors to the Headquarters there were a lot of folks there that had no clue who was who or what was what. A family came up to me as the mushers gathered up for the drawing asking where Mitch was. I explained that he had just left, and that he had not signed up for the race. After dancing around the questions as to why (old habits die hard for me in face to face circumstances apparently), they asked if there were any other mushers around. I pointed over to my right and said that Jeff King was here, and they looked at me and asked "is he important to Iditarod?" *sigh*

Anna Berington was on hand to sign up Seeing Double Kennel for Iditarod.
Kristy was out of state at her husband's family reunion.

Nicolas Petit signing up for the 2019 race.

Is Jeff King important to Iditarod? Maybe a little.

Joar wins all the ladies. He was a very popular photo op at the BBQ.

Martin brings his own sharpie to the party for autographs. He's been to a few
of these things, I guess.

The musher drawings start off with drawing the "start order" for the musher bib draw before the race. The mushers who sign up on the first day get to draw in the first group which only has the early bib numbers. This year they will draw from numbers 2-29 (there is no bib #1 for any musher in the race, that's for the honorary musher). It's a VERY small opening roster, so unlike years past there's no real advantage (at this point) to being there on sign up day. Next they drew for dog booties and dog food ladles. Mushers did not have to be present for the bib draw order or the booties/ladles... but they DO have to be in attendance to win their entry fee back. Winners this year are Anja Radano and Jeff Deeter.

While not signed up, Al Eichens was on hand for the festivities.

Emily Maxwell and pup chatting with friends.

Nicolas Petit and Libby just chillin' waiting for the musher draw.

Mark Nordman announces the winners of the musher drawing.

Mushers have until Dec 1 to sign up, and Mitch Seavey IS expected to sign up "at some point". Whether that is today or a month or two from now, time will tell, but he's already said to the media that it's a good chance he'll be among the ranks. We're about 244 days away from the Ceremonial Start in downtown Anchorage.

To see all of my photos from Saturday's BBQ, click here.

Who are YOU hoping will sign up for Iditarod 47? Thoughts on how Iditarod/ITC can gain back trust and support? Comment below with your ideas.