Sixty-two teams and 990 dogs left Willow. Forty-seven teams and 450 dogs made it to Nome. Only a third of the 15 teams that didn’t make it were rookies. There were no dog deaths during the race, which is a result of much tougher screening all along the trail.

The weather was wonderful for the mushers, but many of the dogs that were dropped were probably affected by the heat, and not “kennel cough”. During the first part of the race, the speeds were very high for the temperature, as a number of veteran mushers noted.

John Baker won by moving at a fairly consistent pace for the entire race, while Ramey Smith was somewhat erratic, with bursts of speed followed by long stops. He was part of group that was racing among themselves early on, and ended up further back than they normally would be. There has been a tendency by some to treat the race as a series of sprints, while John treated it as a marathon from the beginning.

Will Peterson provides some more information on the interaction between Ellen Halverson and Heather Siirtola at the back of the pack.

Scott Janssen (32), the “Mushing Mortician” [he is a funeral director in Anchorage and gave himself the nickname], figures the belt buckle he received as an Iditarod finisher cost him about $120K. When a single dog needs 12,000 calories/day during the race you can see why the numbers are really measured in tens of thousands to run the race. You need sponsors if you aren’t independently wealthy.

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The BBC tells us about “progress” in Japan

Electricity has been restored to three reactors at the Japanese nuclear plant wrecked by fire and explosions after the 11 March quake and tsunami.
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Engineers have restored power to three reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and hope to test water pumps soon.
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A plant spokesman says some workers were temporarily evacuated from the complex after grey smoke was seen rising from the No 3 reactor.

Reports said the smoke appeared to have come from a pool where the reactor’s spent fuel rods are kept.

Radiation levels did not appear to have risen significantly though after the smoke was spotted, Japan’s nuclear safety agency said.

White smoke was later seen rising from the No 2 reactor, the agency said.
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