And Unalakleet, and Kaltag, and Eagle Island and Grayling. Finally, They’re just about all moving again.
Trail conditions must have eased just a little all the way down to Grayling for all the teams to be on the move once more. And speeds between checkpoints also point to better conditions, unless teams are just feeling more perky after 13 to 22 hour rests. (My experience as a rookie in 1999 was that those long rests don’t do a lot this late in the race to increase team speed. I think I stayed at Koyuk 18 hours that year.)
It looks like a race for second and fourth place are heating up, unless something terrible happens to Lance Mackey. The way the tail end of this 37th Iditarod has gone, I feel reluctant to say Mackey has it in the bag yet. But it sure looks like a three-peat in the making. I for one hope the wind dies down and Mackey has a fun 77-mile run to Nome.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Schnuelle and John Baker are a toss-up for second place. I don’t imagine that will be decided until they get out of the Topkok Hills since they are traveling about the same speed and only a mile apart on their way in to White Mountain as I write.
And the race for fourth is totally up for grabs. Jessie Royer was leading a small pack that included Dallas and Mitch Seavey, Aaron Burmeister and Ramey and Cim Smyth. By morning, we will know which ones of them were willing to skip Elim or cut rest short to go for fouth place. That is one tough group of mushers, and I wouldn’t want to be ahead of any of them taking off from my mandatory eight-hour rest leaving White Mountain. Especially those Smyth brothers, who routinely win the award for fastest run time from Safety to Nome.
On a personal note, I’m usually running on fumes by the time leaders reach White Mountain, and that’s where I typically catch a head cold. So I’m sitting here at home experiencing the race vicariously for the first time in 10 years and today I come down with a full-blown head cold. I might as well be at White Mountain taking catnaps on the floor and pounding lozenges.
7 comments
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March 18, 2009 at 12:28 am
matt hammersley
ahaha jon, the trail has caught up with you! even at home! hope you feel better soon. not long now!
March 18, 2009 at 12:39 am
Kathy
Thank you so much for covering the race, even if it is from the comfort of home. I hated when Iditarod and Cabelas merged, knowing that things that I come to depend on may disappear. Then it happened, no colored pictures for the bios, no chart for the history of each musher, no second resource to send my students for research, no free poster for my classroom, having to pay for any information and the worst – no Jon Little. I hope they come to their senses soon.
With that said, what an exciting race, especially through your expert eyes. I feel like I’m on pins and needles.
Congrats on your Yukon run!
Hope you feel better! Go take some lozenges and lay down on your living room floor. Kidding! Chicken soup and bed rest is in order (but with the computer close at hand!)
March 18, 2009 at 5:55 am
bertkelchtermans
March 18, 2009 at 8:11 am
Leslie
You managed to catch the Idita-crud? I hope that you feel better soon!
March 18, 2009 at 8:56 am
Bob Fitzparick
Second Kathy’s Motion!
March 18, 2009 at 9:27 am
Kirsten Leach
Kathy is so right! The Cabelas site was the one that allowed us fans (and our students for us teachers) to really feel the race, not the official Iditarod site. And what gave Cabelas the edge was YOU (with the free poster for our classrooms running a distant second!). It wasn’t until I found your trail notes through something Jeff King’s wife wrote in her blog that this year’s race came alive for me. Thank you so much for bringing the heart and soul of the Iditarod not just to thousands of adult fans, but for also keeping it exciting for our students! Get well soon!
March 18, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Rebecca Lawson
Jon … I’d like to agree with everything that has been said. In the last couple of years the information has not been nearly as accessible as it was years before.
This year it has been difficult to find information on some of the mushers. I don’t understand why the musher’s websites have not been easier to find.
Thanks for your work here.