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 Under blue skies and sunshine, DeeDee Jonrowe left Willow Lake Friday in a quest to defend her title as reigning champion of the Don Bowers Memorial 200. She was joined on the trail by ten other 200 mushers, plus an additional seven mushers entered in the 300 miler that takes place at the same time. Jonrowe currently leads the pack in the 200 (and would later finish the winner, with Melissa Owens second) while Bruce Linton leads in the 300 miler.
The Don Bowers Memorial Sled Dog Race is one of the more unusual as it is a combined 200/300 mile dog race. Both races go to Joe May's Cabin north of Willow and loop back toward Willow, but those running the 300 run a loop out to Yentna, too, before returning. The race is a qualifier for the Iditarod and Yukon Quest.
 Despite this, the atmosphere prior to the race is a relaxed one. Sleeping dogs snooze in the sun while others watch with interest as their mushers and handlers prepare the sleds for the race. Dogs unaccustomed to the bustle of a race parking lot peer quizzically at fans walking by, perhaps wondering what all the fuss is about. Taking care not to step on the ganglines already stretched out in anticipation of the race start, most were content to watch from a distance, though a few approached for autographs. For some mushers, perhaps, this is their first real experience of being seen as a celebrity, so they seem a bit uncertain, struggling to decide what to write. Jonrowe, of course, is a pro at meeting and greeting fans, and I watch a child giggle with glee as Jonrowe takes the time to engage them in a brief conversation. Later, I spy the same child, still with the pad she'd signed clutched to their chest. Another future musher won over, perhaps?
Walking down onto the frozen lake to watch the mushers start, I pass a mini-dozer clearing a spot on the ice near the shore. This cleared spot will play a role in the start later, but for now I don't pay it much mind. Just part and parcel of living in Alaska to see snow being moved around. Standing on the lake, I engage in conversation with some new fans. One is up from Green Bay and is excited to be seeing their first sled dog race. He has plans to visit an Iditarod musher's kennel on Monday for his first experience on the runners and is full of questions. As a result, the wait passes quickly and before we know it the first musher is coming down the hill toward us.
"Haw. Haw! HAW!"
Nevermind. Like all dogs, Paul McLarnon's dogs have selective hearing. They go right instead, passing on the wrong side of the snow berm that has been created by the mini-dozer to guide the dogs onto the lake. McLarnon stops the team, but is waved on. He's able to simply go around the nearly four foot berm and continue on across the lake. The next few teams go where directed, however, and I idly note that the dozer is perhaps making a small skating rink for the Willow Winter Carnival, closing off the exit McLarnon took with snow piles as the task is completed.
 Team after team exits the starting chute at the top of the chute, making their way down the slope and heading out across the lake. Yells of "Good luck!" "Looking good!" and "Have a great race!" echo across the lake as they make their way past more fans and photographers. Even then, you can hear the soft whoozh of the runners as teams pass and at some point I note that despite the time, just after noon, and the blue skies, they're passing under a distinctively visible moon above.
 The only real hitch in the sequence comes when musher Donald Smidt's team makes the same mistake Paul McLarnon's team made. They go right around the snow berm instead of safely passing on the left. Unfortunately, the exit McLarnon had available to him no longer exists. It's been closed off. At first the dogs attempt to climb the berm, assisted by Smidt after the dozer's driver shuts down and leaps off to stand on the sled brake as needed. The snow is too high, however, and Smidt is forced to turn his leaders back and lead them to an opening that does still exist. Unfortunately, this required a nearly 100 degree turn and a tangle resulted. At this point I become a participant rather than just a spectator, stepping out to hold his leaders for him while he untangles the team. For those wondering, yes, this was within the rules, just as the rules alllowed the dozer driver to hold the team by standing on the sled's brake. This is the sort of help that was available to all and with a team coming down the hill toward us, the well-being of the dogs becomes all-important. You can watch all this on Donna Quante's video, by the way. I have to admit, I was chuckling to myself while this was going on, just knowing Donna had the camera running and was catching my unplanned, brief stint as a handler. Mark Chin's team passed without incident, I might note.
 Thus, team after team, the Bowers 200/300 went off without any major hitches. As I type, DeeDee Jonrowe is expected into Willow as winner. Others will come in later, some sooner than others, of course, but for those who finish, just finishing is a victory. For some, it puts them one step closer to a dream, competing in the Iditarod, whereas for others its a more personal issue. They run to test themselves and their dogs, true, but simply for the joy of running. That's what it's all about. Being out there with your dogs.
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