Iditarod begins March 5th

A strong field is set to take off in the 2011 edition of the Iditarod sled dog race with the ceremonial start in Anchorage on Saturday March 5th, and the official start from Willow on Sunday March 6th. CVIB will be taking a break from blogging the race this year, and will focus mostly on tracking the status of our annual pick contest. It should be an exiting race however, as Lance Mackey will try to set the gold standard by winning his 5th in a row, and plenty of competent teams trying to make sure he doesn't. Young Dallas Seavey has garnered an enthusiastic following after 2 straight top 10 finishes and an impressive win in this year's Yukon Quest, Mitch Seavey (related) has many folks rooting for him. Paul Gebhardt won the tough Kuskokwim 300 this year, a feat that has historically been leveraged into a strong finish in the Iditarod. Hans Gatt, and Hugh Neff showed some strong teams in the Yukon quest before succoming to the elements, and Sebastian Schnuelle looks to have a strong showing once agin while pushing back retirement at least one more year. John Baker has been the most consistent in the top 10 finishing in one of those spots in 12 out of 15 attempts, so we can't count him out. get you picks in, and lets get this party started!