Final Pre-race day & Iditaride training

by Jim Keller February 29 2008 17:24

On Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. AST, 96 mushers will be lined up on 4^th Ave. They will take a ceremonial ride along with a guest, who won the right to ride along in an auction. The auction raises thousands for the Iditarod Trail Committee (ITC), a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.

Rosanne took her training today at the Millenium Hotel, ITC headquarters, and will be riding the 12-mile trail with Mitch Seavey. They will be leaving at 11:10 a.m.

The ITC is staffed with thousands of volunteers and dozens of veterinarians who provide the much-needed labor to pull off the “Last Great Race on Earth.” Just think about the scale of a 2-week, 1,150-mile race in an artic climate!

We picked up our Media and VIP credentials and will be able to bring you some great race coverage.

We had our semi-final J. J. Keller meeting with Brian and Dallas this morning, and we are ready for a great experience the next two days. The final meeting will be at 8 p.m. tonight over dinner.

Anchorage is full of race fans, and the start of the 36^th Iditarod will be another winner. Crews are working all night making the final preparations.

We are headquartered at Captain Cook's on 4^th Ave. and can walk to all the activities.

The weather was forecasted to be in the 20s, but there is a howling wind now which could be interesting tomorrow. Snow is also on the way!

Stay tuned for more excitement.

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Anchorage Trip and 2008 Iditarod Mushers Banquet

by Jim Keller February 29 2008 17:21

Thursday, February 28, 2008 was a real endurance contest. Rosanne and I have been on the move for 21 hours as of this writing.

Our flights were good, but the Minnesota to Alaska leg took 12 hours portal to portal. We wore our J. J. Keller Iditarod jackets, and many people recognized the company and had positive comments.

Iditarod XXXVI was officially kicked off at the Mushers Banquet and Drawing. Two thousand mushers, families, and fans packed a sold-out Sullivan Arena beginning at 5:30 p.m. The banquet is still going on as of midnight (GMT).

All 96 mushers drew their numbers, so it took plenty of time. Mitch drew #33 and said it was a good draw and fits his plan. He will start off slow and build the team for a very strong finish. Many Iditarod races are won in the last 300 miles.

The 2007 champion, Lance Mackey, predicted a great race. He said even though he just finished the 1,000 mile Yukon Quest, his team is strong and will again silence his critics. He won an unprecedented 4^th Quest in a row!

Please checkout the 2008 Race Coverage for images and videos from our first day in Alaska.

Stay tuned to this site for more excitement.

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Preparing for Anchorage

by Jim Keller February 21 2008 17:17

Next Thursday, February 28, 2008, the J. J. Keller Team will be leaving for Anchorage for the start of the 36th edition of the world-famous Iditarod Sled Dog Race. We will stay through Sunday, March 2, then come home. We will leave again the following weekend for Nome to see the exciting finish.

Musher Dallas Seavey has joined the Team and will be our inside color man and will also be filming through the entire race. We'll be covering the entire race, but we will focus on Musher Mitch Seavey.

I will be delivering 100 J. J. Keller Official 2008 Extreme Iditarod Certificates to Mitch that he will be carrying in his sled. These commemorative certificates will be given to associates who earn them.

We have a full page, 4-color ad in the Official 2008 Iditarod Race Guide which highlights our sponsorship of Mitch Seavey, the 2004 champion.

We have ordered new apparel from Aramark, our vendor and customer, that will sport the J. J. Keller logos everywhere. Our team will be wearing this when we travel and attend inside functions.

Iditarod banners have been completed and will be posted around our J. J. Keller facilities soon.

All of our Associates can track the race this year on our intranet!

The Iditarod Trail Committee has approved press credentials for the team so we can have the needed access.

Brian Keller has set up 2 digital cameras and 3 video recorders that we will be using to bring you the daily race details. We plan to publish photos, videos, and a notebook addition daily. So visit the site often!

We will be attending the Mushers Banquet on Thursday, February 28, 2008 and will start to upload from there.

Lance & Tonya Mackey called me last Friday from the Yukon Quest trail where Lance was competing for his fourth straight championship (which he won yesterday). I should be able to get a great interview at the Banquet from Lance, the 2007 Iditarod champion.

Rosanne Keller will be riding 12 miles in Mitch Seavey's sled during the ceremonial start in Anchorage on Saturday, March 1, 2008.

We will be in Willow, 80 miles north of Anchorage, for the official re-start on Sunday, March 2, 2008. Mitch is scheduled to leave the chute around 2 p.m. AST. We will see him 1,150 miles later, on Tuesday, March 11 in Nome!

We are all excited to be involved again, so please follow the website and share in the excitment as we bring a J. J. Keller Iditarod Championship to the Fox River Valley for the first time!

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Final Pre-race day & Iditaride training

Anchorage Trip and 2008 Iditarod Mushers Banquet

Preparing for Anchorage

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Final Pre-race day & Iditaride training

Anchorage Trip and 2008 Iditarod Mushers Banquet

Preparing for Anchorage

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