Posts from — March 2020

Martin Massicotte (2) and Linwood Fiedler (8) scratched at Galena “in the best interest of the team”.

Standings at 9:30PM CDT (6:30PM AKDT):

Beyond Unalakleet
1 Thomas Waerner (40)
2 Brent Sass (44)
At Unalakleet
3 Wade Marrs (7)
4 Aaron Burmeister (25)
5 Jessie Royer (31)
6 Mitch Seavey (27)
Beyond Kaltag
7 Ryan Redington (37)
8 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (35)
9 Paige Drobny (58)
10 Michelle Phillips (33)
11 Travis Beals (20)
12 Lance Mackey (12)
13 Aaron Peck (36)
14 Jessie Holmes (34)
15 Richie Diehl (16)
16 Peter Kaiser (9)
17 Ramey Smyth (5)
18 Mille Porsild (32)^R
19 Kelly Maixner (22)
20 Nicolas Petit (21)
21 Aliy Zirkle (23)
22 Tom Frode Johansen (39)^Q
[Read more →]

Standings at 8:00PM CDT (5:00PM AKDT):

At Kaltag
1 Jessie Royer (31)
2 Brent Sass (44)
Beyond Nulato
3 Thomas Waerner (40)
4 Peter Kaiser (9)
5 Aaron Burmeister (25)
6 Wade Marrs (7)
7 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (35)
8 Ryan Redington (37)
At Nulato
9 Richie Diehl (16)
10 Paige Drobny (58)
11 Mitch Seavey (27)
12 Michelle Phillips (33)
13 Lance Mackey (12)
14 Kelly Maixner (22)
Beyond Galena
15 Jason Campeau (19)
16 Aaron Peck (36)
17 Mille Porsild (32)^R
18 Travis Beals (20)
19 Ramey Smyth (5)
20 Jessie Holmes (34)
21 Aliy Zirkle (23)
22 Nicolas Petit (21)
23 Tom Frode Johansen (39)^Q
24 Martin Massicotte (2)^Q
[Read more →]

3/14 is Albert’s birthday and

Π Day.

I assume you have all shopped for the perfect gift.

To start: Π ≅ 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399
3751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679….

Jeremy Keller (47) scratched at Nikolai for personal reasons. He will be mushing back to Willow.

One of Nome’s councilmen asked people to not come to Nome for the finish of the Iditarod.

Nils Hahn (56) & Alan Eischens (49) scratched at McGrath. Everyone has finished their 24-hour stop.

Standings at 9:30PM CDT (6:30PM AKDT):

At Galena
1 Jessie Royer (31)
Beyond Ruby
2 Brent Sass (44)
3 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (35)
4 Richie Diehl (16)
5 Ryan Redington (37)
6 Peter Kaiser (9)
7 Paige Drobny (58)
8 Lance Mackey (12)
9 Thomas Waerner (40)
10 Aaron Burmeister (25)
At Ruby
11 Wade Marrs (7)
12 Michelle Phillips (33)
13 Mille Porsild (32)^R
14 Jason Campeau (19)
15 Travis Beals (20)
16 Mitch Seavey (27)
17 Aaron Peck (36)
18 Ramey Smyth (5)
19 Linwood Fiedler (8)
[Read more →]

Yes, it’s Friday the 13^th again. The 13^th falls on a Friday more than any other day of the week, so get over it. It’s only valid in in English and Portuguese speaking countries, so go visit a Spanish-speaking neighborhood for the day.

If you want to blame someone, it’s the calendar of Pope Gregory XIII that created this imbalance. [He obviously didn’t have a problem with the number on any day.]

Broadway is dark. All Smithsonian museums are shut. All Universal theme parks are closed. The Mouse has shut down Disneyland and Disneyworld. There will be no fans allowed at NASCAR races and the Australian Grand Prix has been cancelled. The NBA, MLS, MLB, NHL has postponed all games. The NCAA has cancelled all sports including March Madness. California wants no events over 250, New York allows 500 or half of the fire marshal limit – whichever is smaller.

Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada and his wife are under quarantine. The President of Brazil and his immediate staff are under quarantine. Trump may have had contact with a COVID-19 victim at CPAC, and is pictured standing next to the Brazilian press secretary who has tested positive for COVID-19.

The only reason we don’t know what is going on is because the FUBAR introduction of test kits from the Trump administration. South Korea tests more people every day than the US has tested so far.

Folks, the Iditarod just postponed the “Meet the Mushers” and Awards Banquet in Nome for this year’s race. These people don’t tend to overreact.

Oh, about the Covid virus going away with warmer weather, the weather is warmer in Australia as it is the end of summer in the Southern Hemisphere and they have the virus down there.

Standings at 9:00PM CDT (6:00PM AKDT):

Beyond Cripple
1 Jessie Royer (31)
2 Aaron Burmeister (25)
At Cripple
3 Brent Sass (44)
4 Michelle Phillips (33)
5 Lance Mackey (12)
6 Paige Drobny (58)
7 Mitch Seavey (27)
8 Kelly Maixner (22)
9 Aliy Zirkle (23)
10 Thomas Waerner (40)
11 Richie Diehl (16)
12 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (35)
13 Ryan Redington (37)
14 Wade Marrs (7)
Beyond Ophir
15 Peter Kaiser (9)
16 Jessie Holmes (34)
17 Aaron Peck (36)
18 Matthew Failor (29)
19 Jason Campeau (19)
20 Tim Pappas (3)
[Read more →]

Jim Lanier (55) scratched at Rainy Pass. He was not feeling good.

Many teams will take their 24-hour rest starting today. Takotna is a favorite for the stop.

Standings at 7:00PM CDT (4:00PM AKDT):

Beyond Ophir
1 Paige Drobny (58)
2 Michelle Phillips (33)
3 Mitch Seavey (27)
4 Brent Sass (44)
5 Lance Mackey (12)
6 Kelly Maixner (22)
At Ophir
7 Travis Beals (20)
8 Aliy Zirkle (23)
Beyond Takotna
9 Tom Knolmayer (30)
At Takotna
10 Jessie Royer (31)
11 Richie Diehl (16)
12 Aaron Burmeister (25)
13 Thomas Waerner (40)
14 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (35)
15 Ryan Redington (37)
16 Peter Kaiser (9)
17 Jessie Holmes (34)
18 Matthew Failor (29)
19 Aaron Peck (36)
20 Ramey Smyth (5)
[Read more →]

Standings at 7:00PM CDT (4:00PM AKDT):

Beyond Nikolai
1 Brent Sass (44)
2 Richie Diehl (16)
3 Jessie Royer (31)
4 Wade Marrs (7)
5 Thomas Waerner (40)
At Nikolai
6 Travis Beals (20)
7 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (35)
8 Aaron Burmeister (25)
9 Peter Kaiser (9)
10 Lance Mackey (12)
11 Ryan Redington (37)
12 Michelle Phillips (33)
13 Paige Drobny (58)
14 Mitch Seavey (27)
15 Matthew Failor (29)
16 Ramey Smyth (5)
17 Tim Pappas (3)
18 Aaron Peck (36)
19 Mille Porsild (32)^R
20 Jason Campeau (19)
21 Jessie Holmes (34)
22 Aliy Zirkle (23)
[Read more →]

Jim Lanier (55) is back in the race at 79 years of age. He is definitely the oldest musher out there.

Two entrants had to find replacements for their teams. Veteran musher and former winner of both the Quest and the Iditarod, Jeff King, had emergency surgery last week and had to hand his team over to Sean Underwood (46). One of my favorites, Zoya DeNure, came down with something and after finishing the parade had to hand her team to her husband, John Schandelmeier (42). While the Iditarod considers John a rookie, he won the Quest twice, and writes about mushing for the Anchorage Daily News. Zoya’s team is always made up of “rescues, rejects, and runts” and Zoya wouldn’t want to disappoint them by not letting them race.

Standings at 8:00PM CDT (5:00PM AKDT):

Beyond Rainy Pass
1 Aaron Burmeister (25)
2 Richie Diehl (16)
3 Peter Kaiser (9)
4 Lance Mackey (12)
5 Brent Sass (44)
6 Travis Beals (20)
7 Wade Marrs (7)
At Rainy Pass
8 Martin Massicotte (2)^Q
9 Thomas Waerner (40)
10 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (35)
11 Paige Drobny (58)
12 Jessie Royer (31)
13 Aaron Peck (36)
14 Mitch Seavey (27)
15 Mille Porsild (32)^R
16 Michelle Phillips (33)
17 Aliy Zirkle (23)
18 Kelly Maixner (22)
19 Robert Redington (28)
20 Linwood Fiedler (8)
[Read more →]

The start is at 5PM CDT (2PM AKDT) with plenty of fresh snow yesterday. The high temperature is forecast to be 29° F. The moon will be full tomorrow. The teams leave a couple of minutes apart with the times equalized at the 24-hour stop. The temperature is a little high and the new snow may lead to moose using the trail, but at least it will look like the old Alaska of the 1960s in March.

Just found out it will be a supermoom because it is at its closest approach to the earth.

Standings at 10:20PM CDT (7:20PM AKDT):

Beyond Yentna
1 Peter Kaiser (9)
2 Martin Massicotte (2)^Q
At Yentna
3 Ramey Smyth (5)
4 Lev Shvarts (10)
Beyond Willow
5 Tim Pappas (3)
6 Kristy Berington (4)
7 Fabio Berlusconi (6)^R
8 Wade Marrs (7)
9 Linwood Fiedler (8)
10 Laura Neese (11)
11 Lance Mackey (12)
12 Meredith Mapes (13)
13 Deke Naaktgeboren (14)^Q
14 Karin Hendrickson (15)
15 Richie Diehl (16)
16 Gabe Dunham (17)^R
17 Anna Berington (18)
18 Jason Campeau (19)
19 Travis Beals (20)
20 Nicolas Petit (21)
[Read more →]

Spring forward, Fall back.

Just to screw up your life, don’t forget that Congress has stolen 2:00 to 2:59AM Sunday from you. They should at least have the decency to wait until the equinoxes to do this sort of thing. There’s barely enough daylight to do what needs to be done, much less save.

It’s a government conspiracy to make you late for church 😈

It is the first Saturday in March which is Susan Butcher Day in Alaska and marks the Iditarod ‘parade’ from Anchorage to the airport. The actual race is set to start on Sunday in Willow.

This year they are using the Northern Trail and there seems to be adequate snow and cold temperatures to keep the puppies happy.