The 2012 Iditarod Featuring Matt Giblin

Endurance.  Exhaustion. Agony.  Will.  The Last Great Race on Earth.

The 2012 Iditarod begins today at 10:00 AM Alaska time with the ceremonial start in Anchorage. Matt Giblin, Danvers, MA native, ex Missoulian and current Juneau/Big Lake, AK resident has drawn bib number 52 in this years race. 

At roughly 11:50 am Alaska time today, Matt will begin his 3rd Iditarod Sled Dog race.  As a rookie in 1998, Matt finished his race in 50th place.  His sophmore race in 2011 produced a 40th place finish.  This year Matt is a veteran on the trail and expectations are higher. For a brief bio:ttp://iditarod.com/race/musher/?id=893

The Iditarod is a 1,049 mile race from Anchorage to Nome, AK.  A great resource of information about the race, history, mileage, checkpoints is here:  http://iditarod.com/about/the-iditarod-trail/. 

My intention is to post information about Matt from the start of the race until he passes through the famed Burl Arches in Nome.  This will include a brief summary of the trail* Matt will be on as well as any other information I have to track his progress.  Matt has been given a GPS tracking device by the Iditarod so information should be pretty accurate. 

The ceremonial start in Anchorage consists of mushers beginning the race at 10 AM AK time with 2 minute intervals between each musher.  Matt has drawn bib #52 so anticipation is he will begin his race at roughly 11:50 am AK time.  This leg is just 11 miles finishing at Campbell Airstrip and, from there, the dogs and mushers will be trucked up to Willow, AK for the restart on Sunday using the same starting positions as the ceremonial start.

*All trail descriptions are written by Donald Bowers, Jr. 

For a brief description of this leg, go here: http://iditarod.com/about/the-iditarod-trail/anchorage-to-campbell-airst.... 

by Donald Bowers, Jr.

"The first mile and a half of this leg is on city streets lined with thousands of spectators. The next six miles run east and south through the city greenbelts and parks on the extensive system of bike/ski paths. After crossing Tudor Road on an overpass, the trail winds east for several miles in a large wooded park area on the Tozier Track sprint dog trails; the end of the trail for all the teams and their Iditariders is at the Campbell Airstrip right next to the Bureau of Land Management Visitors Center. It’s a beautiful setting to end a spectacular day winding through a very special part of Anchorage." 

I'll post as often as I receive new information.  Feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer as best as I can.  I anticipate Matt finishing in the top 35 this year which means somewhere between 10-12 days.  

Cheer him on!

As always...

GO MATT GO!