Iditariders touring Anchorage in the sleds of Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race mushers on Saturday will produce almost $250,000 in revenue for the Last Great Race, according to Iditarod CEO Stan Hooley.
Iditarod fans from around the word bid for seats in the sleds, or buy them outright. The bids and buys netted a total of $231,571 this year, Hooley said.
Seven riders paid the $7,500 asking price for rides in the sleds of their favorite mushers. An earlier Alaska Dispatch News story identified only two of those fan favorites -- Jessie Royer from Montana and Kristy Berington from Kasilof.
Hooley said fans also bought a ride with Berington's twin sister Anna from Kasilof; 2011 race champion John Baker from Kotzebue; longtime Iditarod favorite DeeDee Jonrowe from Willow, three-time runnerup and near winner last year Aliy Zirkle from Two Rivers, and Zirkle's husband Allen Moore.
Apparently, some race fans are Iditarider addicts. According to the Iditarod website, Nancy Livingston will be an Iditarider for the 14th time this year, having hitched a ride with champions Rick Swenson and Robert Sorlie, along with four other Norwegian mushers. "When I ride with my beloved Norwegians, the Sons of Norway always have a tuba or some muscial instruments playing their national anthem," she told the website.