Today the mushers of the Iditarod gather in the little town of Willow for the official start of Iditarod 36. The start in Anchorage is now just ceremony, at one time the teams mushed from Anchorage to Eagle River then loaded the dogs up and drove to Wassilla for a restart. Now the official start is on Sunday. The Anchorage Daily News has an nice photo slide show of yesterdays event that does a good job of getting the feel for the event. Sights and sounds from the ceremonial start.

ANCHORAGE — As a cool breeze whipped the occasional flurry of snow through the steel and glass buildings of downtown, some 96 mushers, dogs and the usual throng of spectators bundled up a little more than usual to take part in the annual rite of late winter, Alaska’s version of March madness: The ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race...The goal today was simple: Run the 11-mile route that snakes through the city streets and parks, entertain their Iditariders, pose for photos, talk to reporters and — importantly — survive the day without any problems. (ITC)