Red Lantern
Rookie Celeste Davis (58) of Deer Lodge, Montana got to the burled arch in 13 days, 5 hours, 6 minutes, and 40 seconds. Her finish was the fastest for the last competitor in the Iditarod, and would have been the record for the race prior to 1981.
Seventy-one teams and 1,136 dogs started the race, but only 55 teams and 550 dogs passed under the “arch”.
Among the 16 that didn’t make it: Karen Ramstead has personal reasons; Justin Savidis had a dog decide to go off on his own; Karin Hendrickson & Kathleen Frederick had equipment problems; Pat Moon & Judy Currier had injuries; Zoya DeNure & Michael Suprenant had medical problems; and the other eight had unhappy puppies. This is a sled dog race, and if the puppies aren’t happy, the racing stops.
Bruce Linton (65) was concerned that he might have to scratch when his insulin pump froze on the run through the Yukon River valley. Fortunately, he was able to get what he needed at the next checkpoint.
I am happy to report that no dogs have died this year, which is the first time this has occurred in the race’s history. After last year’s sad losses, there has been more effort in ensuring that rookies are doing effective dog care. The other plus was that the warmer weather occurred at the start of the race when the dogs were in much better shape to tolerate the heat. The experienced mushers ran at night to reduce overheating problems.
Below the fold are the final standings
March 21, 2010 7 Comments
