Russell Stigall

For the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, April 2007

MAT-SU – What has Wasilla lost in losing to Willow the Iditarod restart?

Wasilla city council member Marty Metiva said his city, the official home of the Iditarod, Irondog and Jr. Iditarod, will lose, at worst, the headache of finding parking for the throngs of restart participants and spectators.

Cheryl Metiva, Executive Director of the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce and Marty Metiva’s wife, said that though the restart moves to Willow one day a year, her organization likes to use the catch-phrase Iditarod 365.

Wasilla enjoys its status as home to the Iditarod to the tune of $2.1 million a year, the Metivas said. And an average of five bus-loads of visitors a day are drawn to Wasilla’s Iditarod heritage.

Though Wasilla is the consumer Mecca of the Mat-Su Valley, it sees little tourism.

“Wasilla’s Iditarod heritage] is the backbone of the tourism we have in Wasilla,” Cheryl Metiva said.

Council member Metiva said he understands the desire to host the restart in Wasilla.

“You want the pride, it is the emotional part. But [Willow] is only 20 miles away. At least it is in the Mat-Su Valley,” Metiva said. “Even if the start is in Willow, they are going to stay in Wasilla, gas up in Wasilla, buy food in Wasilla.”

Worse off than Wasilla is the city of Seward. Selected as Mile 0 of the Iditarod trail when it was first commissioned in 1908, Seward is now over 100 miles away from the race’s ceremonial start in Anchorage. Shortly after the trail was finished in 1912 mushers abandoned the first stretch of trail out of Seward and instead took the railroad train as far out of town as possible to avoid the area’s slushy marine environment.

Metiva said the Iditarod organization’s biggest responsibility is safety.

“You want a safe start and a safe race, whether for the two or four legged athletes,” Metiva said. And to achieve that, he said, the restart had to happen in Willow this year.

Alaskans will celebrate the Historic Iditarod Trail’s 100^th anniversary over the next four years. Over the next 100 years, Cheryl Metiva said, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will continue to grow.

She said that the race is becoming more popular in the world market place - a movie about the race recently won an Emmy Award.

The race will also help educate people about dog mushing.

“People come to understand that dog mushing isn’t an inhumane sport, it is a celebration of man’s best friend,” Metiva said.

The Iditarod National Historic Trail will play host to the increasing number of people looking for a wilderness experience, Metiva said, and will help to continue the celebration of the cultural diversity of the communities along the trail.

The Iditarod is scheduled to begin with a ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage on March 1, followed by the official restart March 2 at 2 p.m. on Willow Lake.