News Release
Pamplona’s Got Nothing On Anchorage, Alaska : Winter Festival Debuts Running of the Reindeer in 2008
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – Jan. 3, 2008 – Visitors can run with Rudolf at Anchorage, Alaska’s historic Fur Rendezvous Festival, Feb. 22 – March 2, 2008.
The inaugural “Running of the Reindeer” will take place Feb. 24, 2008, after the final heat of the World Championship Sled Dog Race. Locals and out-of-town visitors will dart down Anchorage’s snow-laden Fourth Avenue followed by more than a dozen of the horned and hoofed creatures. The idea was conceived on a local morning show.
Greater Anchorage, Inc., organizers of Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, is spending $900 on liability insurance for the event. However, due to the docile nature of reindeer, no injuries are expected.
Registration for the “Running of the Reindeer” is available online at www.furrondy.net. Participation is limited to 500 men and 500 women.
About Anchorage Fur Rendezvous
Feb. 22 – March 2, 2008
Affectionately known locally as “Rondy,” Anchorage Fur Rendezvous is part of an outstanding week of local festivals and winter sporting events known as the Winter Trio. Rondy began as the brainchild of outgoing Anchorage citizen, Vern Johnson. In 1935, Johnson created a three-day sporting event timed to correspond with the return of local miners and trappers coming to Anchorage to sell their hard-won winter product. The event featured skiing, hockey, basketball, boxing and a children's sled dog race down Fourth Avenue.
Today, Fur Rendezvous continues to pay tribute to the early Alaskan way of life with an old-time melodrama, Alaska Native tribal gatherings, World Champion Sled Dog Races, craft markets, the Miners & Trappers Ball, outhouse (yes, outhouse) races, a fur auction and the brand new “Running of the Reindeer” event.
MORE WINTER TRIO EVENTS
36th Annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race®
March 1, 2008
The 36th Annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race® is more than 1,100 miles through the roughest, most beautiful terrain Mother Nature has to offer. Jagged mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forests, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coast will challenge more than 100 sled dog teams as they vie to be first through the burled arch in Nome, Alaska. Danger lurks around every corner with temperatures plummeting far below zero, winds that can cause a complete loss of visibility, the hazards of river overflow, long hours of darkness and treacherous mountain pass climbs. The Iditarod is truly a race extraordinaire, possible only in Alaska.
Tour of Anchorage
March 2, 2008
See all of Anchorage in a 50k, 40k, or 25k route across town. Billed as a premier ski marathon, The Tour of Anchorage is part of the American Ski Marathon Series, North America's longest running and largest citizen's racing and touring series. There are actually four races: a 25k classical race, and a 25k, 40k and 50k freestyle. Special rates and packages available for participants and spectators.
The Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau’s mission is to attract and serve visitors to the Municipality of Anchorage. ACVB’s marketing functions are funded by one-third of the bed tax collected by the lodging association. One-third goes to the Municipality’s general fund and one-third goes to the Anchorage Civic & Convention Center construction project. ACVB receives no state or federal funds. Explore www.Anchorage.net for more information.
Media Contacts:
Shelly Wozniak
Public Relations Manager
Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau
swozinak@anchorage.net
(907) 257-2331 direct
(907) 250-5285 cell
(907) 222-3752 fax
Nance Larsen, APR
Vice President, Communications & Marketing Programs
Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau
pr@anchorage.net
(907) 276-4118
Explore www.Anchorage.net
