Iditarod Update – Race Day 4 Late Night
Current Standings:
1 Paul Gebhardt (69)
2 Hugh Neff (16)
3 Zack Steer (26)
4 Silvia Willis (40)
5 DeeDee Jonrowe (39)
6 Martin Buser (13)
7 Ed Iten (32)
8 Ken Anderson (9)
9 Mitch Seavey (33)
10 Ramey Smyth (48)
The top 9 have left Ophir for Cripple.
A number of the people you are used to seeing on this are taking their mandatory 24-hour stop and will be back tomorrow. There is still a mandatory 8-hour rest between Ruby and Unalakleet, and the final 8-hour stop in White Mountain.
Two more teams scratched today. Jessica Hendricks (23) was in 53rd place when she got to Nikolai, but at least 5 of her dogs didn’t look good to her, so she scratched. And Cliff Roberson(56) left Rohn but came back after a minor eye injury on the trail, and decided not to risk complications by continuing without seeking medical assistance.
Kim Franklin (79) is at the back of the pack and the only team left in Rohn. She may be taking her 24-hour there.
Rachael Scdoris (55) is now in 75th place.
The trail has become slush in the warm weather, and will turn into frozen ruts when the temperature drops. Some dogs seem thrilled with the higher temperatures, but it’s taking a toll on those from the far north who are happier with single digits. Other than that, things are much smoother than last year when crashes took their toll on mushers, dogs, and equipment.
