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Mushers Draw Starting Positions

At the mushers' meeting Thursday at the Millenium Hotel in Anchorage, one of the first orders of business was the drawing for starting positions.  Mushers drew envelopes from a basket in the order in which they signed up for the race.  All of the mushers who signed up on the first day of open entries last June drew in the first draw and every musher who signed up after the first day of entries drew in the second draw.  The first draw contained all early start numbers, while the second draw contained all the late start numbers.  In this way, mushers who signed up on the first day of open entries were guaranteed not to start last.

John Barron draws his envelope with his secret starting number.  He'll find out what position he starts at the banquet.

Keep in mind, however, that starting first does not imply a head start over the last team.  The start time differential is made up at the mandatory 24-hour stop that every team must take at some checkpoint along the trail.  When mushers take this rest, additional time is added to the 24 hours to equalize the head start of teams who started ahead of last place.  In this way, the first musher across the finish line in Nome is the winner, no matter what position he or she started in.

The only catch to the drawing at the meeting Thursday morning was that mushers were not allowed to see what number they drew.  The envelopes were sealed, and mushers were instructed to sign the envelop and return it to the race accountant.  The race accountant then opened the envelopes in private, and the starting numbers were not announced to the mushers or the public until the pre-race banquet at the Sullivan Arena on Thursday night.

ITC President Rick Koch introduces sponsors

At the banquet, numerous race sponsors were thanked for their support, and then mushers were called up in the reverse order of their starting positions.  Rookie Karen Land, of Sand Coulee, MT drew the last starting position.  She will be the only musher who rests for exactly 24 hours at her 24-hour mandatory rest stop along the 1,151-mile trail to Nome.

Below is a list of mushers and their starting positions.  This number also corresponds to the musher's "Bib Number."  Note that position number 1 is an honorary position set aside for persons who have made a large impact on the sport of mushing and the Iditarod.  This year's honorary mushers are Earl Norris and Isaac Okleasik, both of who passed away in the last 12 months.  The first team to leave the starting line and representing these two honorary mushers will be Junior Iditarod Champion Cali King.  In King's sled will be a K-9 police officer from the New York Port Authority who was in the World Trade Center during the September 11 terrorist attacks.  

Something from the folks at home in Montana.

1. --Honorary Position-- Earl Norris & Isaac Okleasik
2. Charlie Bolding
3. Peter Bartlet
4. Jon Little
5. Jerry Riley
6. Robert Bundtzen
7. John Baker
8. Doug Swingley
9. G.B. Jones
10. Ray Redington Jr.
11. Rick Horseman
12. Hans Gatt
13. Lynda Plettner
14. Martin Buser
15. Judy Merritt
16. Mitch Seavey
17. Jim Lanier
18. Herald Tunheim
19. Ramy Brooks
20. Lance Mackey
21. Rick Swenson
22. Tim Osmar
23. Burt Bomhoff
24. Aliy Zirkle
25. Sonny King
26. Mike Williams
27. Jim Gallea
28. Linwood Fiedler
29. Bruce Lee
30. Ellen Halverson
31. DeeDee Jonrowe
32. Al Hardman
33. Vern Halter
34. Sonny Lindner
35. Ken Chase
36. David Straub
37. Lesley Monk
38. Devan Currier
39. Jeff King
40. Stan Passananti
41. Bill Borden
42. Nils Hahn
43. Sandy Mckee
44. Lisa Frederick
45. Keith Aili
46. Nikolai Ettyne
47. Mark Black
48. Ramey Smyth
49. Daniel Vetsch
50. John Bramante
51. John Barron
52. Kjetil Backen
53. Palmer Sagoonick
54. Robert Sorlie
55. Melanie Gould
56. Perry Solmonson
57. Garth Eldson
58. Ken Anderson
59. Harmony Kanavle
60. Kelly Williams
61. Jason Barron
62. Bill Cotter
63. Jim Oehlschlaeger
64. Gerald Sousa
65. Karen Land