Fairbanks - North Pole
Start/Finish
Checkpoint
Dogdrop
(Distance 51 km, Time 4-5 hours)
The Dogboxes (Pickups for dog transport) is turned off in Fairbanks
on a parking lot. The start of running takes place in the city center
of Fairbanks on the frozen Chena River. More than 500 spectators,
nearly 600 dogs and 42 mushers are expected at the start. The teams
are usually so excited that up to 6 people are needed to control
them.
The teams are guided with snowmobilesby a ramp of snow to the Chena
River where every two minutes will start a team. The yaps and howls
fulfill the air during the teams jump in their harnesses look to
their musher to find out if the race will finally begin. For the
first kilometers the mushers stands usually on his snow brake to
force the dogs into a slower speed, so that they don’t run
to fast. The Trail leads on the Chena River from the city, however
he not really lies in the wilderness. The Trails around Fairbanks
are often traveled, smooth and fast. All 500 meters there are crossings
so inexperienced mushers can take one of this trails by error but
the trailbreakers do there best to mark the Trail. Sometimes mushers
lose the trail because their leaddog toke the wrong trail. North
Pole, a small city, not far from Fairbanks, is a "Dogdrop".
Here dogs which are ill or hurt can be given to the handler. So
early in the race this nearly never happens, but this place is organized
for the security of the dogs. Hardly a musher rests here, because
the dogs are trained for long distances and still too excited to
think at something else than the Trail.
