2020 Iditarod activities officially begin today, with the Driver’s Meeting this morning, followed by the Meet and Greet and Musher Drawing Banquet at the Dena’ina Center tonight. Tomorrow is spent finalizing preparations and worrying. See my post on that here https://ididaride.com/news/friday-in-the-life-of-an-iditarod-musher-by-danny-seavey/
Fans have just as much prep work to do, whether they’re going to be at the start or watching online, In no particular order:
- Sign up for Fantasy Iditarod (free).
- Follow mushers pages on social media. Mushers can call home during the race, and many handlers offer great insights. Facebook is the most common site, unless you’re an #uglydog. Toni Reitter has compiled a great list of every musher’s active accounts here. (still free)
- IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA – Follow Qrill Mushing and Dallas Seavey, they have done a phenomenal job providing live coverage of races around the world and are now teaming with Iditarod Insider. It’s GEO blocked in the US, but free elsewhere.
- Sign up for Iditarod Insider. It’s $20-$40 (and not nearly as good since I left:) but you’ve still got to do it. It provides GPS tracking, live videos and reports from the trail.
- Bookmark Local TV stations KTUU w/ Dee Dee Jonroe and KTVA, both have pretty good coverage, including occasional live feeds.
- Stock up on supplies. You’re not going to be leaving the house for the next two weeks, so make a Costco run for coffee, popcorn, coffee, TP if they have any, coffee, and anything else you need to survive two weeks. Don’t forget coffee.
- Take your dog for a walk every day.
I hope to see you out there, or on here. Danny Seavey
