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Iron Dog start and finish to be televised, webcast liveFeb 07, 2011 (Anchorage Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- For the first time in race history, the start and finish of the Iron Dog snowmobile race will be televised live across much of Alaska. Anchorage's KTUU-Channel 2 will broadcast the Big Lake start and the Fairbanks finish. It will also send broadcast team to Nome for reports that will air on its newscasts. Nome is the only place racers stop for an extended period during their 2,000-mile journey from Big Lake to Nome to Fairbanks at speeds sometimes exceeding 80 mph. The station will also offer online streaming of race video on its website. "It's never happened, it's a first," said Iron Dog executive director Kevin Kastner. "It's hard to know what it will mean; it's hard to measure. I've got a little bit of panic in me wondering what does it mean to physical attendance at Big Lake. "(But) we've been given a golden opportunity to elevate the Iron Dog to new heights." Never before has 28-year-old Iron Dog received such coverage. The 39-year-old Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race benefitted from network television coverage on ABC's popular "Wide World of Sports" program in its early years as well as cable television coverage more recently. No national coverage of the Iditarod has been announced for this year, however, with KTUU handling the race start and finish. "It is one of the world's toughest races," KTUU news director Steve MacDonald said of the Iron Dog in a press release. "We look forward to bringing this extreme challenge to our viewers." Coverage of the Big Lake start will begin 11 a.m. AST on Feb. 20 on KTUU and KTVF in Fairbanks. About 30 minutes of finish-line coverage is scheduled to begin 1 p.m. Feb. 26. Online streaming of the start and finish will be at www.irondograce.com. Kastner described the Iron Dog's relationship with KTUU as a partnership, with the race helping locate advertising sponsors to fund the coverage. Kastner estimated it cost "probably six figures to put the people in place and the gear." He said the race did not pay KTUU for the coverage. "The important thing for me," Kastner said, "is that there have been many, many years people didn't even know the race had started or finished. Hopefully, this changes that." Reach reporter Mike Campbell at [email protected] or 257-4329. To see more of the Anchorage Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.adn.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |