TODAY'S THE DAY...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The streets of downtown Anchorage were filled with barking dogs and screaming fans today as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race got under way in Alaska's biggest city.

Lance Mackey reaching out to the fans

Defending champion Lance Mackey is trying for his fifth consecutive Iditarod win.

Mackey finished the 2010 race in eight days, 23 hours, 59 minutes — the second-fastest finish in Iditarod history. The 40-year-old Fairbanks musher said there is nothing in his way to prevent him from reaching Nome first, again.