Photo credit Bob Hallinen/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File - Anchorage, AK 
Big Crowds Expected At Kickoff Of Alaska's Famed Iditarod
Big crowds are expected to converge on Alaska's largest city Saturday as hundreds of dogs and their humans kickoff the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race with a short ceremonial run along snow-heaped streets.
The fan-friendly event in Anchorage brings spectators up close to the 52 musher-dog teams gearing up for the 47th running of the famed 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) race. Mushers are generally more relaxed here than they will be for the real thing.
The serious, competitive portion of the wilderness trek starts Sunday in the small community of Willow, north of Anchorage. From there, the teams will cross two mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River and dangerous sea ice along the Bering Sea Coast. Village checkpoints are staged across the trail before the teams reach the finish line in the old Gold Rush town of Nome on the state's western coast.
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