The next stop is scheduled for Red's Place , but the dogs come to a halt outside the nearby Ma Tsu Temple . An elderly Chinese man emerges from the temple doors and smiles as the racers wave and bark greetings. The next rest stop is Washington Square Park , where a Christian duo with amplified guitar sings to a near-empty square. One of the tartan-wearing Scotties from Team Great Scot limps into the park after being brutally gored by Dalmation Island's horns but, like great sled dogs before him, the Scot is fearless and determined to finish the race. Making further use of the musical accompaniment, the Holy Terriers start a limbo game using a whip.
Photographs are taken, then it's back to the track.
By the time the sleds reach Caesar's on Bay and Powell, the dogs are hitting their stride. Many are seen detached from their sleds, chasing cars and woofing at bicyclists. When an electric bus stops for pictures, the dogs swarm over it, hanging off the poles and slavering at tourists like a fraternity prank gone awry. The final stretch of the Urban Iditarod, around Aquatic Park and up the hill into Fort Mason , is considered to be the most demanding leg of the four-hour trek, partly for the steep grade and partly because of alcoholic saturation. On the grassy plateau that is the finish line, the incoming teams collapse in heaps.