Dave Higgins Photography

The winter of 2015 has been freakishly warm and dry in parts of Alaska, forcing the Iditarod race start from Willow (near Anchorage) north to Fairbanks. Fortunately, the ceremonial start proceeded as scheduled on March 7th in Anchorage. Since I was in the area for a ski trip, I spent the morning photographing the festivities.

Here’s a sampling of my photos from the day.

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Jessie Royer starts out

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Izzy the Vaccination Dog. There appeared to be numerous tie-ins between the Iditarod and healthcare – possibly because the inspiration for the event was the 1925 dog team relay to get medicine to Nome to fight a diphtheria outbreak.

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Staging area for one of the teams

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Handsome Husky

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Waiting for the race to begin

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Aliy Zirkle, one of the race favorites, meets the press

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Travis Beals & friends

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Yuka Honda leads her team to the start

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Future DeeDee Jonrowe?

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Heidi Sutter, ready to start

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Laura Allaway’s team at the start

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Laura Allaway heads off

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Becca Moore waves to the crowd

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Rob Cooke of Canada was the first off

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Maintaining the snow was a constant job

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Dogs of Isabelle Travadon, a rookie from France

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Thomas Waerner of Norway passes a dog team mural

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Two young fans in the crowd have mixed reactions as a team goes by

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Ken Anderson’s dogs take the turn tightly

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Nathan Schroeder & passenger take a spill at the turn

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Crowd favorite DeeDee Jonrowe, a breast cancer survivor, is known for her bright pink outfit

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4-time winner Lance Mackey talks with a musher handler

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Ray Redington Jr. waves to the crowd

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4th Avenue after all the teams have gone

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All photographs are © Dave Higgins and “Dave Higgins Photography,” 2015; all rights reserved.