Iditarod 2013 – Day 4
The majority of the field is settling in at Takotna and McGrath for their 24-hour stops, but Lance is continuing to Iditarod, which is a long run for the Iditarod.
Currently Martin Buser, Matt Failor, David Sawatzky, and Gerald Sousa have all finished their 24-hours and will be moving through the ranks towards the top while the competition rests.
Weather becomes really important after Ophir, as a strong wind coming up can make the trail impassable and extremely dangerous. A two-hour lead can become a two-day lead if you are ahead of the wind.
Lance is already down to 13 puppies on his team. He still hasn’t found a team to replace the group that retired after carrying him to 4 Iditarod and 4 Quest wins. Martin still has all 16 dogs in harness, and they have shown themselves to be very fast indeed. Jake Berkowitz still has his entire team in harness and he got to Ophir more that 4 hours before Lance.
At this point Martin Buser’s strategy is looking good as he has at least 8 hours on everyone at Takotna. If the weather holds for him, he may be the second 5 time winner, but there is a lot of trail between him and Nome.
Update: The Alaska Dispatch reports that the weather is going to get nasty. A warm front is moving in from the South and will bring high winds, higher temperatures, and rain or snow to the trail. Those who can’t stay ahead of the front can’t be competitive. At best there will be whiteout conditions, at worse the snow will turn to slush, which is terrible for the dogs [and not a lot of fun for the mushers.]
Beyond Ophir
1 Lance Mackey (5)
2 Sonny Lindner (67)
3 Jeff King (18)
At Ophir
4 Jake Berkowitz (44)
5 Nicolas Petit (16)
6 Jim Lanier (59)
7 Jason Mackey (12)
8 Martin Buser (2)
9 Jodi Bailey (4)
At Takotna
10 Aaron Burmeister (24)
11 Aliy Zirkle (27)
12 Mitch Seavey (36)
13 Jessie Royer (30)
14 Dallas Seavey (19)
15 Peter Kaiser (10)
16 DeeDee Jonrowe (28)
17 Paul Gebhardt (11)
18 Ray Redington Jr (52)
19 Joar Leifseth Ulson (32)R
20 Michelle Phillips (7)
21 Ken Anderson (6)
22 John Baker (13)
23 Cim Smyth (51)
24 Gerry Willomitzer (21)
25 Brent Sass (62)
26 Kelley Griffin (9)
27 Ramey Smyth (38)
28 Michael Williams Jr (46)
29 Allen Moore (48)
30 Mike Williams Sr (35)
31 Curt Perano (45)
32 Karin Hendrickson (29)
33 Linwood Fiedler (42)
34 Kristy Berington (20)
35 Anna Berington (31)
36 Richie Diehl (65)R
Beyond McGrath
37 Matt Failor (61)
38 Cindy Gallea (17)
39 Louie Ambrose (53)R
At McGrath
40 Justin Savidis (34)
41 Robert Bundtzen (23)
42 Kelly Maixner (25)
43 Josh Cadzow (55)Q
44 Aaron Peck (58)
45 Jessica Hendricks (54)
46 Wade Marrs (57)
47 Paige Drobny (14)Q
48 Mike Ellis (50)
49 Travis Beals (22)R
50 Matt Giblin (64)
51 Rudy Demonski Sr (39)
52 Charley Bejna (15)R
Beyond Nikolai
53 Luan Ramos Marques (47)R
54 Angie Taggart (40)
55 Jan Steves (26)
56 Michael Suprenant (33)
57 Bob Chlupach (43)
58 Gerald Sousa (49)
59 Mikhail Telpin (63)Q
At Nikolai
60 Christine Roalofs (37)R
61 James Volek (66)R
62 David Sawatzky (56)
63 Newton Marshall (8)
64 Cindy Abbott (60)R
The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Iditarod, while italics indicates Yukon Quest winners. The numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers. The small “R” indicates a total rookie, while the small “Q” indicates an Iditarod rookie who has completed a Yukon Quest.
These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.
This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.
All posts on the Iditarod can be seen by selecting “Iditarod” from the Category box on the right sidebar.
5 comments
This is the part of the race that’s always a bit confusing trying to determine who’s really the frontrunner. Adding in (or taking out) the 24 hours or 8 hours, and how far ahead one is from the other makes my eyes cross.
One of the rookies, Christine Roalofs, ended up with a broken sled, and Newton Marshall was kind enough to stop and help her fix it. The photo of the repair looks like it was a real mess: Christine Roloaf’s sled. Nice guy.
Speaking of Newton, I just noticed that he isn’t with Lance Mackey’s team anymore. He’s a part of Silverbelle Kennels with Kelley Griffin now.
One interesting story. Apparently one of the Iditarod reporters was on a snowmachine and found Sonny Lindner on the trail without his team. So, the reporter helped Lindner reunite with his runaway team via the snowmachine.
It’s good to see that at this stage, most of the teams are still hanging in there. Very few scratches so far. Seems to me that in years past, a load would drop off between the Rainy Pass and the “Burn” area. This is good news, as it seems a shame after investing all the time and money to have to scratch so early.
The Burn ate more sleds this year than the Stepping Stones. The snow melted or blew away exposing bare ground and stumps. There are at least a half dozen people with sleds held together with tape, tree limbs, pipe clamps, and wire.
As long as it doesn’t turn bitter cold and the dogs are content, people will hang in there. If this front moves in and soaks people, a lot of them will drop out.
In Alaska it is a crime to leave someone stranded. Below a certain temperature [32°F ?] you are required to pick up hitchhikers. Helpfulness is built into the law, but most Northern people would do it anyway.
Here’s a photo of one of the dropped dogs. He really doesn’t look too happy about being left behind, does he? http://media.adn.com/smedia/2013/03/06/12/53/1heBo2.AuSt.7.JPG
And, I really liked this photo of the athletes getting a well-deserved rest: Rest
Rather surprised to see you are at the computer this morning. I figured you’d still be at that never-ending rehab you’ve been working on. I’ve had a couple of those myself. Especially one old house – every time you started to do something that should have been a routine day, another shock or surprise awaited.
The puppies really don’t want to be separated from their pack.
That looks like a Mike Ellis team at rest. He always runs one of, if not the best looking teams in long distance racing.
Since you’ve done rehabs, you know there are times when you have to step back and regroup before you can deal with the latest discovery. I had to quit earlier than I wanted because I caught myself making mistakes. I’ll get it done tomorrow while I’m waiting for the stove part to arrive.