Mushers prepare teams

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Hundreds of sled dogs and thousands of fans lined up along Anchorage’s Fourth Avenue on Saturday for the ceremonial start of the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The dogs leaped and barked when it was their turn to leave the downtown chute for an 11-mile run across Alaska’s largest city. Mushers ran with 12 dogs instead of the 16-dog teams they’ll use when the competition starts today in Willow, about 50 miles to the north.

Seventy-one teams are entered in the trek to Nome, an old gold rush town on Alaska’s western coast. More than a third of the mushers are from seven other countries and nine other states.

Defending champion Lance Mackey is seeking his fourth consecutive win. The Fairbanks, Alaska, resident, among five past Iditarod winners in this year’s field, signed autographs as he made last-minute checks on his dogs. He said he’s hoping to reach Nome first – if that’s what his dogs are up for.

“I won’t be disappointed if I come in third or 23rd, as long as my team looks happy and healthy doing it,” he said. “If I get to Nome and I question, ‘Well, what if I had done this, or what if I had done that,’ then I’d be disappointed.”

Also running is Hans Gatt, who in February became a four-time winner of the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. Mackey also has won that race four times.