Our favorite photos from the 2020 Iditarod ceremonial start through Anchorage

Mushers, dogs and fans mingled across the city as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race celebrated the ceremonial start in Anchorage.

By Loren Holmes, Anne Raup
Updated: March 9, 2020 Published: March 8, 2020

Big Lake musher Kelly Maixner mushes down 4th Avenue on Saturday, March 7, 2020 during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Fifty-seven teams made their run through Anchorage on Saturday for the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Fans lined the streets in the downtown area, then the trail as it snaked for 11 miles through the city to Campbell Airstrip.

[WATCH: Hear from mushers during the 2020 Iditarod ceremonial start]

The Leman family catches booties thrown by the last musher, Paige Drobny of Cantwell, to run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ceremonial start route. From left are Judah, 4, Ruth, 8, Isaac, 6, and Lydia, 3. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Eagle River musher Larry Daugherty waves to race fans on Saturday during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage. Riding in his second sled is his son Calvin, who finished the Junior Iditarod a week before. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle leans into a turn during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Tolsona musher Dennis Kananowicz uses clothespins to determine how to line out his team on Saturday before the ceremonial start in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Dogs from Cindy Abbott's kennel wait for their turn pulling a sled on Saturday. Abbott, who last ran the race in 2019 but is not entered this year, and Mat-Su Borough mayor Vern Halter took off before the first musher, driving a sled for one of the race sponsors. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Wasilla musher Jessica Klejka makes her way up Cordova Street on Saturday during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

An Anchorage police officer stops traffic for Alberta musher Aaron Peck on Saturday during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Dogs in Michigan musher Laura Neese's team bark before starting the ceremonial start of the Iditarod in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Dogs in Nicolas Petit's team rest on Saturday before the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage. Petit's best finish was second in the 2018 race. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Jeremy Keller reaches out for hand slaps while running his team through the Trailgate party along the Iditarod ceremonial start route. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Tara Wheatland, aka Dr. Balto, stands ready to inoculate party-goers at Trailgate as well as mushers during the Iditarod ceremonial start. She said she had administered innumerable inoculations. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Musher Deke Naaktgeboren drives his team along the Chester Creek trail during Iditarod ceremonial start. The neighborhood was jam packed with traffic due to the enormous Trailgate party just across the creek. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Musher Brent Sass gathers beer, hand slaps and other things in the maw of the Trailgate party along the Iditarod ceremonial start route. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Juneau resident Irene Martinko gets a high five from musher Riley Dyche on Saturday in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Kasilof musher Monica Zappa crests a hill on Cordova Street during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Willow musher Robert Redington makes his way onto Cordova Street during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Bibs for Kristy Berington (4) and her twin sister Anna (18) rest on their sleds before the Iditarod ceremonial start. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

People watch the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from the window of a hotel room on Saturday, March 7, 2020. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Mushers Jessie Royer and Joar Liefseth Ulsom talk about Iditarod trail conditions on Saturday before the ceremonial start in Anchorage. Ulsom, from Mo i Rana, Norway, won the race in 2018 and has never placed lower than seventh. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Dogs in Junior Iditarod winner Nicholas Sousa's team pull the 2020 honorary musher, Gail Phillips, on Saturday, March 7, 2020 during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Loren Holmes

Loren Holmes is a staff photojournalist at the Anchorage Daily News. Contact him at loren@adn.com.

Anne Raup

Multimedia editor Anne Raup has been with ADN for 26 years, both as a staff shooter and an editor.