Race Day 4 – Iditarod

The first dozen mushers are beyond Nikolai and the trail to McGrath. The first one to McGrath wins the Spirit of Alaska award that includes a custom spirit mask and a $500 air freight credit for PenAir.

Those in 13 to 31 places are in Nikolai. The rest are spread out back to Rainy Pass with the exception of Nancy Yoshida (3), who is in last place and has to await a new sled.

The temperature climbed to 40° in Nikolai today which is not good for the dogs or the trail. The dogs are better off at 20° and below. They will actually have heat related health issues at 40° and mushers will have to switch to running at night and resting during the day. Climate change is going to force the race to be scheduled earlier in the year. The warmer weather is going to turn the trail into slush during the day and a skating rink at night.

This is the current list of teams as of 12:46am CDT:

1 Hugh Neff (55)
2 Aaron Burmeister (56)
3 Sebastian Schnuelle (34)
4 Paul Gebhardt (15)
5 Lance Mackey (47)
6 Jeff King (41)
7 Ken Anderson (54)
8 Ed Iten (4)
9 Mitch Seavey (21)
10 Hans Gatt (25)
11 Bjornar Andersen (18)
12 John Baker (44)
13 Aliy Zirkle (24)
14 Cim Smyth (37)
15 Aaron Peck (2)
16 Jessie Royer (17)
17 Rick Swenson (8)
18 Warren Palfrey (7)
19 Gerry Willomitzer (14)
20 Melissa Owens (30)
21 Linwood Fiedler (28)
22 Bruce Linton (40)
23 Dallas Seavey (62)
24 DeeDee Jonrowe (31)
25 Gerald Sousa (36)
26 Sonny Lindner (42)
27 Rick Larson (5)
28 Matt Hayashida (19)
29 Judy Currier (22)
30 Ray Redington Jr (10)
31 Robert Bundtzen (51)
32 Ryan Redington (13)
33 Sven Haltmann (53)
34 Ramey Smyth (16)
35 Martin Buser (33)
36 Jim Lanier (35)
37 Cindy Gallea (49)
38 Ed Stielstra (46)
39 Allen Moore (6)
40 Karin Hendrickson (29)^R
41 Bill Cotter (65)
42 David Sawatzky (66)
43 Chad Lindner (26)^R
44 Robert Nelson (23)
45 Mike Williams (39)
46 Jake Berkowitz (12)
47 Wade Marrs (48)^R
48 Harry T Alexie (67)^R
49 Michael Suprenant (11)^R
50 Jeff Holt (68)
51 Tom Thurston (27)^R
52 Laura Daugereau (45)
52 Eric Rogers (60)
54 Tim Osmar (57)
55 Rachael Scdoris (58)
56 Heather Siirtola (63)
57 Jen Seavey (61)^R
58 Trent Herbst (20)
59 Lou Packer (43)^R
60 Timothy Hunt (64)^R
61 Alan Peck (32)^R
62 Kurt Reich (59)^R
63 Rob Loveman (50)^R
64 Blake Matray (9)^R
65 Kim Darst (52)^R
66 Nancy Yoshida (3)^R