Iron Dog.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: ENTERTAINMENT

In 1984 local snowmachiners said, 'We can do an Iditarod kind of thing,"' which was the start of Iron Dog, a more than two thousand mile snowmachine race (for perspective, Seattle to Chicago is 2,064 miles, a mere 4 miles more than Iron Dog) that, starting this year, begins in downtown Anchorage on Fourth Avenue and finishes in downtown Fairbanks, according to Iron Dog Executive Director Kevin Kastner. "[A downtown Anchorage start] has been quite a few years in the works," Kastner says. "Having the facilities that Anchorage offers attracts racers from Alaska and the Lower 48 and around the world, as well as drawing attendance from sponsors who want to come and be part of the event. It's more likely you're going to get attendees from Outside, which is already happening this year."

The Iron Dog start, which is Saturday, February 21, is now accompanied by several other events.

Flying Iron, an X Games-style show, features Cory Davis, Joe Parsons, Sam Rogers, and Timmy Beckner, and is the kickoff event...