This was the first year Alaska was ever been considered as the meeting site, so the organizing committee planning to make this one to remember. Anchorage , with its population of 254,000, serves as a center for economic, communication, service and transportation. Over 400 people make their plans and experienced Alaska's amazing wetlands . If you want to see a realtime image of downtown Anchorage and follow the race events that way instead, check out the following AnchorageCam which will show most of the start of the race on Saturday.
Anchorage is as far north as Helsinki, Finland and nearly as west as Honolulu, Hawaii.
It sits at the base of the Chugach Mountains along the coast of Cook Inlet in Southcentral Alaska. Three of Alaska's 39 mountain ranges are visible from Anchorage, the Chugach, Kenai and Alaska ranges. The Aleutian Chain extends into the Eastern Hemisphere. For those pre and post conference trips, check out the new site Travel Alaska . The strongest earthquake ever recorded in North America shook Anchorage and all of Southcentral Alaska on March 27, 1964.