The Iron Dog, the 2,000-mile snowmachine race from Big Lake to Nome to Fairbanks, begins for real Sunday at Big Lake. But things rev up with two days of action Friday and Saturday in downtown Anchorage.
Friday
7 p.m., 3rd Avenue between C and E streets — Flying Iron freestyle show, starring 14-time X Games medalist Joe Parsons of Yakima, Washington; 10-time X Games medalist Heath Frisby of Middleton, Idaho; six-time X Games medalist Cory Davis of Soldotna and Alaska State Sno-X Lions co-founder Tim Beckner of Anchorage.
Saturday
All events on 4th Avenue near E Street, except Flying Iron freestyle show, which is on 3rd Avenue between C and E.
9:30 a.m — Vintage snowmobile show
10 a.m. — Meet and greet with Pro Class racers
10:30 a.m. — Vintage snowmobile parade
12:30 p.m. – Ceremonial race start. Teams will depart in 90-second intervals and will turn north on E Street. They wind their way through the Ship Creek area traverse JBER and finish in Eagle River. The full route is not being publicized, Iron Dog executive director Kevin Kastning said, in part because once racers reach the railroad and port areas, access is limited. "Our intention is for people to come and watch on 4th and E Street," he said.
1:30 p.m. – Iron Pup kids parade
2 p.m., — Flying Iron freestyle show, starring Parsons, Frisby and Beckner (Davis will not appear Saturday because he is a competitor in the race)
Sunday
11 a.m., Big Lake – Official race start. Teams will depart in two-minute intervals.
A number of downtown streets will be closed Friday and Saturday to accommodate the race and accompanying events.
Iron Dog start order
(Team number in parenthesis)
1) Todd Minnick/Nick Olstad (16)
2) Eric Watson/Andrew Zwink (18)
3) Joshua Plumb/Jordan Starr (9)
4) Remington Lessard/Tim Lessard (31)
5) Micah Huss/Ryan Sottosanti (2)
6) Shane Barber/David Spain (3)
7) Nick Petito/Jerrod Vaughn (5)
8) Brad George/Robbie Schachle (6)
9) Robert Menne/Daniel Thibault (4)
10) Tyler Bogert/Brandon Burmeister (25)
11) Troy Conlon/Ryan Folsom (36)
12) Jason Moore/Robert Strick (12)
13) Casey Boylan/Bryan Leslie (14)
14) Rurik Lindner/Richard Swenson (42)
15) Cory Davis/Ryan Simons (41)
16) Matt Heilala/Stan James (37)
17) Klinton VanWingerden/Kris VanWingerden (49)
18) Rob Cleary/Dave Hausbeck (32)
19) Chad Dow/Shane Grindle (39)
20) Kurt Steiner/Dieter Strobel (22)
21) Barney Anselment/Dietrich Nikolai (45)
22) Jason Gundersen/Josh Norum (28)
23) Tyler Aklestad/Tyson Johnson (8)
24) Mike Morgan/Chris Olds (10)
25) Tyler Drake/Shannon Jenkins (27)
26) Paul Johnson/Mike Telkamp (13)
27) Kyle Conner/Geoff Crouse (30)
28) Darrick Johnson/Kraig King (7)
29) Corey Berg/Luke George (44)
30) Chris Kruse/Paul Sindorf (23)
31) Chad Gueco/Dusty VanMeter (17)
32) Scott Franz/Nathan Haines (24)
33) Todd Palin/Eric Quam (20)
34) Charlie Potter/Alex Schwochert (15)
35) Harold Attla/Archie Beetus (19)