It was fitting that during a winter in which many Alaska communities have been pounded with deeper-than-normal snowfall, the 66 mushers competing in the 2012 Iditarod rolled through downtown Anchorage on Saturday as snow fell lightly on the exuberant crowd lining Fourth Avenue.This year’s Iditarod kicked off with the traditional — and just for show — ceremonial start through the streets of downtown Anchorage, a crowd-friendly precursor to the race’s true restart in Willow the next day. As usual, the mushers had a little fun with the event, as the pressure to compete had one last vacation day.Read more here: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/slideshow/iditarod-2012-last-great-race-roars-through-streets-anchorage
