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Photos: The dogs, mushers and fun-loving fans at the Iditarod ceremonial start

The ceremonial start is a rolling party, starting in downtown and ending in East Anchorage.

By Marc Lester, Loren Holmes, Anne Raup, Bob Hallinen
Updated: March 4, 2024 Published: March 3, 2024

Here’s a look at the parade-turned-party that is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race’s ceremonial start in Anchorage.

Read our story: Prerace jitters, thinking like a dog and more cowbell: Iditarod kickoff begins with mushers touring Anchorage

Mats Pettersson, of Kiruna, Sweden, waves after leaving the starting line. Thirty-eight mushers and their teams kicked off the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race with a ceremonial run through Anchorage on March 2, 2024. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Theo, a dog in Matthew Failor’s team, waits for the run to begin. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Gabe Dunham’s dog Unk sniffs the clipboard while being checked in by race officials. (Marc Lester / ADN)

A dog in Severin Cathry’s team shows excitement to run. (Marc Lester / ADN)

A dog in Fairbanks musher Jeff Deeter’s team rests on the truck. KattiJo Deeter prepares at left. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Paige Drobny of Cantwell begins her run wearing a sparkling cape and helmet. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Five-time Iditarod champ Dallas Seavey waves to the crowd. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Kristy Berington booties dogs for her sister Anna Berington. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Jeff Reid’s sled dogs kick up the snow during the 2024 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ceremonial start in Anchorage. (Bob Hallinen Photo)

A dog watches the Iditarod action from the side of Fourth Avenue. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Mats Pettersson, from. Kiruna, Sweden, makes the corner onto Cordova Street. (Bob Hallinen Photo)

Fans offer opinions on Balto and Togo, two legendary sled dogs involved in the historic 1925 serum run to Nome. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Mille Porsild’s team dogs race down 4th Avenue. (Bob Hallinen Photo)

Jessie Holmes waves to fans after leaving the starting line. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Emily Robinson, 16, the three-time Junior Iditarod champion, drove the ceremonial first sled at the start of Saturday’s festivities. (Marc Lester / ADN)

2024 Junior Iditarod champion Emily Robinson mushes across 16th Avenue during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Bailey Vitello stops briefly as Benjamin Good, right, passes him during the Iditarod ceremonial start. (Bob Hallinen Photo)

Maurice Wyche leads his brother Samuel Wyche down Cordova Hill after the last musher has passed on Saturday, March 2, 2024. (Bob Hallinen Photo)

Deke Naaktgeboren's dog team passes on a bathroom break opportunity during the 2024 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ceremonial start in Anchorage. (Bob Hallinen Photo)

Mille Porsild kicks up a shower of snow as she rides the break into Cordova corner. (Bob Hallinen Photo)

Dogs in Connor McMahon's team mush down Cordova Street. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Jessie Royer high fives fans as she mushes down Cordova Street. (Bob Hallinen Photo)

Anna Berington's Iditarider tosses dog booties as they pass through Bootie Alley. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Rookie musher Josi Thyr, from Fairbanks, heads into Bootie Alley on Cordova Street. (Bob Hallinen Photo)

Travis Beals mushes through Trailgate during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Mille Porsild mushes through Trailgate. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Lauro Eklund greets fans as he mushes through Trailgate during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Matt Hall's team crosses the Northern Lights bridge near Goose Lake. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Mats Pettersson, from Kiruna, Sweden, turns to check on his second sled at a tight turn near Goose Lake. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Connor McMahon, a rookie from Carcross, Yukon Territory, makes a tight turn near Goose Lake. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Fans and spectators take in the sunshine as a dog team runs by near Goose Lake. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Severin Cathry, a rookie from Airolo, Switzerland goes under a banner which reads Go Dogs Go on one side and Iditarod on the other. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Gunnar Knapp looks up the trail for an approaching musher's bib number during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. (Anne Raup / ADN)

An Iditarod fan holds onto the Anchorage Daily News musher page. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Jeff Deeter greets fans during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Jeff Deeter mushes through the Alaska Native Medical Center campus. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Benjamin Good mushes through the Alaska Native Medical Center campus. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Nicolas Petit greets fans as he rides backwards on his sled during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Erin Altemus mushes alongside Tudor Road. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

A musher takes a turn into the woods alongside Tudor Road during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Marc Lester

Marc Lester is a multimedia journalist for Anchorage Daily News. Contact him at mlester@adn.com.

Loren Holmes

Loren Holmes is a staff photojournalist at the Anchorage Daily News. Contact him at loren@adn.com.

Anne Raup

Multimedia editor Anne Raup has been with ADN for 26 years, both as a staff shooter and an editor.

Bob Hallinen

Bob Hallinen has been a photojournalist in Alaska since the 1980s and has traveled extensively all over the state. He retired from the ADN in November 2018 after 33 years at the newspaper.