Portland Urban Iditarod 2010
Portland Urban Iditarod 2010
By Kurt “Swingcat” Johnson
When you think of the Iditarod, you think of the Alaskan dog sled team race through the vast Alaskan tundra with musher, sled and dog team, you get the picture. Now reset to Portland, Oregon and picture a shopping cart as a “sled” and a six-person “dog team”, “mushing” bar-to-bar through downtown Portland. Mix in a combination of Mardi Gras and Halloween costumes and well, you can only imagine. Throw it all together and you have the Portland Urban Iditarod.
All part of the ongoing ‘Keep Portland Weird’ theme, some of the team names included; “Drinkers with a Kayaking Problem”, “Reno 911”, “Quest for Fire”, “Ms. Pac Man” (a bunch of guys), and the “Cougar Den” (yes, middle aged women). The entire participation numbered upwards of 750 team members. The route started under the Hawthorne Bridge and stopped at the Grand Cafe, Jupiter Hotel, Grand Central Bowl, Paddy’s Bar, Barracuda and continued in a 4 1/2 mile loop, ending at the Grand Cafe parking lot. The Grand Cafe was the first and last stop of the route and was the ONLY stop to offer karaoke (at both stops).
The Grand had a beer garden in its parking lot with a stage for karaoke and DJ dancing sets. After the event, the Grand hosted indoor dance parties both in its upstairs karaoke area and downstairs in its Salsa dance club, Andrea’s Cha Cha Club. This writer served as Karaoke Host and Emcee in the parking lot and later, Dance DJ downstairs in the Cha Cha club until 10pm that night until DJ Sonero finally arrived. On the beer garden stage, DJ Luciano ran sound and dance sets.
For the after-event party upstairs, the lovely KJ Krystina ran dance sets and regular karaoke until 2am in the morning.
Overseeing this smooth running entertainment machine was the Grand’s General Manager, Frank Peters. He explained the event, “We’re the first stop. It’s Halloween and Mardi Gras in March with an Alaskan Iditarod theme. The thing that replaces the dogs is five guys pulling a chick to speed up the team. They are costumed and beverage’d out. We provide a beer stop and they are the entertainment, all 700 of them. The parking lot is never big enough and the five bar stations and 15 waitresses are overwhelmed for one hour. And at the end they come back for the karaoke and dance party until they drop. By that time there’s only 300 left. And every year the costumes are better. More and more people want in it, but it’s limited to about 700 people”.
The Portland Urban Iditarod has been in existence since 2001 and the Grand Cafe has participated since 2004. This year’s Urban Iditarod took place on March 13, 2010. You can see more of the Portland Urban Iditarod by doing an Internet search.
