This is the status for the field as the race winds down:

Finished in Nome since this morning

61 Joe Runyan (83) [New Mexico]
62 Dries Jacobs (65)^r [Belgium]
63 Rich Corcoran (84)^r
64 Laura Daugereau (29)^r [Washington]
65 Jake Berkowitz (43)^r [Michigan]

On the trail out of White Mountain

66 Kirk Barnum (31)^r [Montana]
67 Anne Capistrant (88)^r
68 Eric Rogers (25)

In White Mountain for the mandatory 8-hour rest stop

69 Sue Allen (27)
70 Gene Smith (53)^r [Washington]
71 Wayne Curtis (22)
72 Richard Savoyski (90)^r
73 Trent Herbst (85)
74 Sue Morgan (72)^r [Utah]
75 Heather Siirtola (47)

On the trail out of Elim

76 Michael Suprenant (46)^r
77 Martin Koenig (96)^r [Montana]

Still in Elim

78 Molly Yazwinski (62)^r
79 Liz Parrish (75)^r [Oregon]
80 Deborah Bicknell (21)^r

Joe Runyon came out of retirement to act as Rachael Scdoris’s “guide” and then starting hitting 9 mph speeds after Rachael scratched. He obviously hasn’t forgotten how to run the race.

At this point people tend to cluster, to be sure no one gets left behind. Now the point is to finish and at least get the belt buckle.

^r – Iditarod rookie

That is attributed to Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neal, Jr. a Democratic Speaker of the House, who said it was a saying of his father, Thomas P. O’Neal, Sr.

Political ranters who fail to recognize the wisdom of that statement have been blathering all over about what happened with the Florida primary, while demonstrating to all and sundry that they don’t have the first clue about why the date for the Florida primary was changed.

Here’s something most people miss about that election: 4,239,350 people cast ballots on January 29 in the election, 3,658,802 votes were cast for the Democratic and Republican candidates for President.

Wait a minute, you say, why vote in that election if you weren’t going to vote for a Presidential candidate, it was the Presidential primary? The other 473,885 voters who were not qualified to vote in the closed Florida primaries were casting ballots in the real reason for changing the date – Amendment 1 to the Florida constitution to change the property tax laws, giving the Republicans something to talk about in Florida elections in 2008.

Look at the numbers: 97.5% of the voters voted on Amendment 1; only 86.3% voted in the Presidential primary. What was the purpose of the election? What was the important issue in the election?

[Read more →]

The race is winding down with only 20 teams left to go and everyone on the north coast.
Latest Finishers:

52 William Hanes (74)

53 Zoya DeNure (89)^r

54 Benedikt Beisch (64)^r [Germany]

55 Matt Calore (30)

56 Karen Ramstead (19) [Alberta]

57 Joe Gans (12)^r

58 Rick Holt (20)

59 Jeff Deeter (50)^r

60 Sam Deltour (63)^r [Belgium]

Sam Deltour of Belgium just arrived in Nome, but he arrived with all 16 dogs still in harness, something no one else has done this year. He’s a rookie, and if he’s going to continue to race, he just completed a hell of a training run. Veteran dogs are in some ways more important than a veteran musher, so if he can keep this team together and healthy, he will be very competitive in long distance racing for a while.

Of passing interest, while most people are struck by the fact that Zoya DeNure was a former fashion model, she also has a blog, which is obviously more important, because catblogging is more important than catwalking.

The end of the race is on the trail out of Koyuk where 78^th Molly Yazwinski (62), 79^th Liz Parrish (75), and 80^th Deborah Bicknell (21) have just left for Elim.