With some of its star power dimmed due to last-minute withdrawals, the 17 teams racing the dare-to-be-different Denali Doubles Sled Dog Race headed down the Denali Highway as dusk approached Thursday afternoon.
Dropping out of the 226-mile race were four-time Iditarod and Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey and teammate Raelyn Geron; two-time Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey and teammate Patrick Beall; and two-time Crow Pass Crossing champion Christy Marvin and mushing partner Becca Moore.
The winning team will pocket $5,000, with $2,000 going to the runner-up and $1,000 to third place.
The race is the brainchild of four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King, who labeled himself the "head honcho" of the unique, laid-back race, which puts two mushers on one team as they drive between 16 and 20 dogs from Cantwell to the Tangle Lakes campground and back.
Each team must have a veteran musher as well as a relative newbie to competitive racing. On Thursday, that brought out a field of experienced mushers paired with girlfriends, boyfriends, spouses, sponsors, handlers and friends.
"It's a relationship tester," joked Kristy Berington, a six-time Iditarod finisher who is running the Denali Doubles with her boyfriend, Andy Pohl. Pohl said he got on a sled for the first time last fall.
King said all of the teams should make it back to Cantwell for the start of Sunday's Super Bowl, which begins at 2:30 p.m. AST. The first racers are expected to cross the finish line Sunday morning.
Track the progress of the Denali Doubles teams here.