DeeDee Jonrowe regales the crowd with Allen Moore's tale of sportsmanship before she presents the Fred Meyer Sportmanship Award to him. She shared that musher Karin Hendrickson was helpless on the trail and Moore towed her and her team on to the next checkpoint, taking time out of his own race.

The Awards Banquet in Nome was a trip this year! Hundreds of people made their way out for a tasty prime rib, crab and halibut dinner, provided by Millenium Hotel, and of course, to see their favorite mushers win accolade and respect. Some of the more notable award recipients this year include Trent Herbst, the teacher from Idaho who took home the GCI Dorothy Page Halfway Award and Horizon Lines Most Improved Musher Award, as well as Aliy Zirkle, winning the Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian award, and husband Allen Moore who received the Fred Meyer Sportmanship award for his efforts to help musher Karin Hendrickson as she was in big trouble along the trail. Banquet audio and pictures will be up soon!

List of 2011 Iditarod Awards and recipients.

Special Iditarod Awards in Order of Presentation along the Trail

McGrath Checkpoint

PenAir Spirit of Alaska Award – Won by Martin Buser

• Original “Spirit Mask” presented to the first musher into McGrath
• $500 PenAir credit towards travel or freight shipments also awarded

Halfway Point of the Iditarod – Iditarod Checkpoint

GCI Dorothy G. Page Award – Won by Trent Herbst

• Presented In honor of Dorothy Page, the “Mother of the Iditarod” to the first musher into Cripple (Iditarod in odd years)
• Trophy and $3,000 in gold nuggets

First to the Yukon River- Ruby Checkpoint

Millenium Hotel First Musher to the Yukon Award – Won by Hugh Neff

• Presented to the first musher that reaches the Yukon River (Ruby even-numbered years, Anvik in odd-numbered years).
• Awarded a 7-course meal, cooked on a camp stove by a Millenium Hotel staff, at the checkpoint and $5,000 as an ‘after-dinner mint’
• Musher receives the same 7-course meal for 2 anytime of their choosing at the Millenium Hotel.

Unalakleet Checkpoint

Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award – Won by John Baker

• Presented with a trophy and $2,500 in gold nuggets to the first musher to reach the Bering Sea’s “Gold Coast”

End of the Race – First to Nome

Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Official Truck Award – John Baker

• 2010 Dodge Ram 4×4, Quad Cab Pickup Truck Presented to Iditarod winner for almost 20 years

Wells Fargo Winner’s Purse Award – John Baker

• The big cash payout…

Wells Fargo Red Lantern Award – Presented to Ellen Halvorsen

• Presented for 17 years to the last finisher of the Iditarod.
• Trohpy made from a red lantern

Banquet

Alaska Airlines Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award – Presented to Aliy Zirkle

• Presented to a top 20 team who best demonstrates “outstanding dog care while remaing competitive” throughout the race
• Given a Lead crystal cup and 2 free round trip tickets on Alaska Airlines

Fred Meyer Sportsmanship Award – Presented to Allen Moore

• Engraved trophy and $500 Fred Meyer gift certificate Presented to a participant chosen by fellow mushers

Horizon Lines Most Improved Musher Award – Presented to Trent Herbst

• Engraved trophy and $2,000 presented to musher who betters their previous finish by the greatest number of places

Nome Kennel Club Fastes Time From Safety to Nome Award – Won by Lance Mackey

• $500 presented to a top-20 musher with the fastest time from the Safety checkpoint to the finish line.

Rookie of the Year Award – Won by Nicholas Petit

• Presented for 30 years to the top-place rookie (a musher who has never before started the race)
• Trophy and $1,500

City of Nome Lolly Medley Memorial Golden Harness Award – Presented to Velvet and Snicker of John Baker’s Team

• Previously presented by the late Lolly Medley, a Wasilla harness maker and one of two women to run the 2nd Iditarod in 1974.  The award is now presented in her honor to an outstanding lead dog, chosen by the mushers.
• Embroidered gold-colored harness

Golden Clipboard Award – Presented to Unalakleet (received by mayor and veteran musher Middie Johnson)

• Presented for 10 years, by mushers, to a checkpoint voted by mushers.

Golden Stethoscope Award – Presented to Dr. Samantha Yeltatzie D.V.M.

• Presented by Iditarod Official Finishers Club to the vet whom mushers vote “most helpful on the trail.”

Northern Air Cargo Herbie Nayokpuk Memorial Award – Presented to Paul Johnson

• Presented to musher who most mimics “Herbie: The Shismaref Cannon Ball” in his/her attitude on the trail by the staff and officials of the Iditarod.
• Free freight allotment on Northern Air Cargo, walrus ivory scrimshawed trophy, $1,049 in “pocket change” inside a NAC jacket

ExxonMobil Mushers Choice Award - Presented to Rick Swenson

Northern Air Cargo 4-Wheeler Award – Presented to Pete Kaiser

• Presented to a finisher of the race whose lucky key starts the ignition.

The photos I have taken thus far during my trip to Nome are now posted in the below album. Follow the “continue reading” link for all the the pictures.

In this edition of the Iditablog podcast we also take a look at the leaderboard, talk about exciting stories for the last day or two – and we even play your voicemails from earlier in the week.

Feel free to email us with topics or questions you’d like to hear us discuss on the next episode… the email address is: podcast@iditablog.com, send us a twitter/facebook message or call the voicemail box at 253-778-MUSH.

Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes | Download in Zune Marketplace | Browse the Podcast Archives

Checkout our Podcast Sponsor: Alaska Airlines.

What a day in Nome! After getting settled in, grabbing my ticket for the musher’s banquet and satisfying my hunger, I made it just in time to the burled arch on Front Street to catch the close finish of Jodi Bailey (#31 to finish the race) and Lachlan Clarke just moments behind her. Jodi and Lachlan both had big smiles on their faces as they reached the end of Iditarod 2011 and were greeted by their loved ones, and dedicated fans. After their finish (the next mushers in the pack are still a good 30+ miles out at the time of posting), I headed over to the Mini Convention Center to hang out until the poetry reading. I had an opportunity to chat with Ray Redington Jr. about his race, as well as rub shoulders with a few other big-name mushers. I was lucky to catch the animated reading of Robert Service’s poetry by Richard Benneville. Robert Service wrote about the lore of Alaskan wilderness – both nature and the people in it, and Richard’s reading (complemented by a long history in the area) was really a pleasure. After dinner with my hosts – David and Julie Elmore – and their other guests, I headed to take in all the goodness (and goofiness) that is the Iditarod Open Mic Night. It’s quite an atmosphere up here at the end of the Iditarod – the Nome community rallies around the race and takes the week to celebrate Alaska and this great race! I am looking forward to more of the community events, the opportunities to talk to some of my favorite mushers (and hopefully some of yours, too!) and to just soak in all that is Nome.

I went with the DeArmond’s (my very gracious hosts in Anchorage) to an Iditarod Restart Party, hosted by Larry and Sunny Houle in their handcrafted cabin on Crystal Lake. The race runs right over the lake, about 300 yards away from their cabin and we had front row seats to the real start of the amazing race. It was a beautiful sunny day, with lots of fans on the lake to cheer on their favorite mushers and high five them as they mushed by. The dogs, booty-clad and rarin’ to go, ran by with tongues lagging behind. The mushers (who were already starting to shake up the order) came by with big smiles. It truly was a treat to share this Alaskan experience with a party of people – all excited to see the mushers begin the 1,000 mile journey! Check back in for a Flikr album with more pictures from the weekend!

It’s the re-start recap podcast.   In what was our funnest podcast to date, Josh & Greg break down the field of competitors for this year’s Iditarod, head into the listener emails, and generally get excited because the race has officially begun!

Feel free to email us with topics or questions you’d like to hear us discuss on the next episode… the email address is: podcast@iditablog.com, send us a twitter/facebook message or call the voicemail box at 253-778-MUSH.

Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes | Download in Zune Marketplace | Browse the Podcast Archives |

4th Ave was CHILLY this morning, but that didn’t dampen the buzz of the 39th Iditarod’s ceremonial start. 63 mushers and over a thousand dogs lined up in downtown Anchorage to celebrate “The Last Great Race” along with many enthusiastic fans. Some noteworthy mushers included DeeDee Jonrowe, running the race for her 30th time; Hans Gatt – favored to win if Lance doesn’t, even with a frostbitten hand from the Yukon Quest; Lance Mackey, winner of the past 4 Iditarods and looking to make it 5; Sebastian Schnuelle, who’s in it to win it as always; Hugh Neff, who runs the race because he claims “it’s where legends are born”; and so many more! Tune in to tonight’s podcast to hear more details from the ceremonial start and some things to look forward to as the real race starts tomorrow in Willow!

See all the pictures by clicking below:

As Lance Mackey, Hans Gatt, and Jeff King make their way to Nome today, we’ll be preparing for their arrival with a live webcast. We’ll announce on twitter & facebook the broadcast times once we have a better idea of when the first musher will arrive outside Nome. However, the webcam and stream will open once a musher arrives to Safety.

Our video feed will come from several streaming webcams in Nome and after the Iditablog “pre-game show”, live audio will come from the burled arch itself as you hear history being made as the winning musher crosses the finish line of Iditarod 38.

CLICK HERE to open a new window that will provide you with the live stream.

In this live mini-podcast from Anchorage, Iditablog reporter Ms. Loren Liden lets us in on what her morning on 4th Avenue has looked like so far and what the mushers are saying about this year’s race.

Make sure you check back right here for regular Iditablog Podcasts and updates throughout the 2010 Iditarod, we’ll be featuring interviews, stories, commentary and photos.

Previous 2010 Iditablog Podcasts:
Iditablog Podcast 2010 – Episode #1
Iditablog Podcast – 2010 Preview

Feel free to email us with topics or questions you’d like to hear us discuss on the next episode… the email address is: josh@radioalaska.org, send us a twitter/facebook message or call the voicemail box at 253-773-MUSH.

Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes | Browse the Podcast Archives

iTunes Listing note: We’ve been having issues with the podcast updating properly within the iTunes Store, it’s a problem many podcasts are having right now and iTunes is working to get it fixed. However, if you subscribe to the show you will still get new episodes delivered to your computer.

Today I attended a pre-race open house for mushers Sebastian Schnuelle and Michael Suprenaut, held by Bonne and Jim Foster. Luckily for me, my lovely hosts work with Suprenaut and I had an in to the party.

Not sure of what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised with the warm and welcoming Alaskans, who ushered me into the house filled with food, friends of the mushers and lots and lots of dogs! I immediately spotted Sebastian Schnuelle (you really can’t miss that hair or accent) and made my way around to interview the very successful musher (2009 Yukon Quest Champion, 2nd Place Iditarod). He sat leisurely on the couch with one of his dogs and welcomed my questions, but his pre-race attitude was anything but leisurely. “I’m very clearly here to race, not just to sight-see to Nome,” said Schnuelle, who is shooting to win this year’s race, but would not be disappointed with a top-5 finish.

I had the opportunity to speak with Michael Suprenaut, not a musher I anticipated talking to, but one who had shared some insight on the immense preparations made prior to the race. In listing all the to-do’s on his pre-race checklist he said “You get the food drops done and then you don’t want to ease off the training.” Mentioning the toll the storm took on his race last year (held him up for 3 days), Suprenaut is looking to decrease his time from 15 days last year to about 10 1/2 this time around.

A musher I didn’t expect to see, but was so excited to talk to happened to be at the party was this year’s Yukon Quest champion Hans Gatt.  He was busy pulling all his dogs out of his truck as I approached him for an interview, but he had some exciting things to say about his career in mushing. Over the past couple of weeks, several big names in mushing have announced their resignation, or significant cut-backs in their racing. Names like Lance Mackey and Jeff King have already declared that this year is bound to be the last with this field of experienced competitors. Gatt, on the other hand, has yet to join the retirement bandwagon. “I don’t want to talk of retiring before the race,” Gatt said, though he did admit that after 22 years of career mushing he might not run any 1,000 mile races after this one.

Who knows what the standings might look like this year. With old faces possibly on their way out and new mushers anxious to pull up in the ranks, one thing is sure – there were plenty of dogs just getting into their career and enjoying the ‘good life’ of the pre-party before a week or two of running their little hearts out on the trail.

-Loren Liden for Iditablog.com