Knocking on the Door
9:15 p.m.
March 14, 2006

by Tyrell Seavey

Ultimate Iditarod's coverage of the 2006 Iditarod sponsored by:

There is a palpable hue of anticipation in Nome, Alaska today as this small town prepares to greet the 2006 Iditarod Champion. Jeff King appears to be the man. He is nearly untouchable right now and he knows it. All he needs to do is make the 9 – 10 hour run from White Mountain without a major meltdown and he will be able to put the 2006 away in the record books.

This seaside town of snow, ice and 15 dollar hamburgers is giddy with excitement anticipating the big finish to happen between midnight and 1:00 a.m. The official finish banner was hoisted into place above the finish line this afternoon and the local Highway Department busied themselves dumping snow onto Front Street to lubricate the final half-mile of the Iditarod Trail for the incoming dog teams. The only problem now is that we don’t have a musher yet. After all the hustling and bustling to get things in place there is nothing left to do now but wait… and wait.

The long standing tradition of hours upon hours of poker has been upheld and chatter is already going around as to who cleaned out who and who has been winning or losing. This is the one time of the year that all of the Iditarod handler/groupie types get to hang out together in complete relaxation. This is a great time for rumors, stories and lies to circulate. People get to know each other quickly in this setting.

The favorite hangout is the Mini Convention Center. One can get into a good conversation or exchange dog team lies 24 hours a day in the Mini. We also spend a fair bit of time in Fat Freddie’s. It is the favorite restaurant in town and one of the major inspirations for the mushers’ food-based hallucinations along the trail. They make a wicked burger, but I am a bit worried we are going to get thrown out if we keep asking the waiter if we can get financing on the fries ($4.00 extra). I don’t know what the big deal is… I have good credit.

Unfortunately, the novelty only lasts so long (about half a day) and it promptly sinks in that you will be here for a week with little or no relief. By the third time someone tells you about their lead dog, Fluffy, wading through the open water to virtually guarantee their success in the Waddle Creek 15 Mile Fun Run this winter you begin to notice certain discrepancies in the story, but you must keep yourself from pointing out that last time Fluffy was only 60 lbs. and this time he is 110 and that before he led the team to 4^th place, which has now become a win… not to mention a new record. Pointing this out would totally disregard the unspoken handler creed which implies that no story is too unbelievable and no lie too big. And, if this guy ever stops talking I am going to tell him about the time Tread saved 11 kids from… what was it again… oh well, I’ll think of something.