Photos: Iron Dog starts in Anchorage for the first time

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Iron Dog racer Gus Strick and his daughter Grace Strick, 4, wait for the ceremonial start of the race in downtown Anchorage on Saturday, February 21, 2015. The 2,000-mile snowmobile race held a ceremonial start in Anchorage for the first time this year.

Roaring motors and riders in orange helmets clustered under gloomy skies in downtown Anchorage Saturday for the ceremonial start to the Iron Dog snowmachine race, an earnest bid to boost exposure for what's billed as the longest, toughest race of its kind.

The race will officially start Sunday in Big Lake and wind 2,031 miles up to Nome and Fairbanks. But this week, teams switched up the usual routine and hauled their snowmachines and equipment into Anchorage for the ceremonial start, the first in the race's 32-year history.

The crowds paled in comparison to the Iditarod or Fur Rondezvous, but organizers said they were happy with the turnout. Someday, they'd like to see those Iditarod-sized crowds, and for Iron Dog racers to be household names.

"It's raising the profile of the event," Kevin Kastner, the executive director, said before the event got underway Saturday.

On Fourth Avenue on Saturday, a light rain fell steadily as pre-recorded introductions to each team played over the loudspeaker. The street was packed with snow hauled in from municipal snow dumps, and people lined up behind a fence on the sidewalk, many of them friends and family of the racing teams. After a countdown, the rev of an engine filled the air and racers sped off down the street, though not yet at the breakneck speeds that the Iron Dog is known for.