Category — Iditarod

It’s the Aliy and Martin show with Aliy’s team posting faster times, but with fewer dogs on it. Dallas still needs to take the 8-hour.

At Unalakleet
1 Aliy Zirkle (10)
2 Martin Buser (36)
3 Sonny Lindner (70)
Beyond Kaltag
4 Nicolas Petit (29)
5 Jeff King (17)
6 Mitch Seavey (6)
7 Kelly Maixner (13)
8 Hugh Neff (61)
9 Aaron Burmeister (23)
10 Robert Sørlie (22)
11 Hans Gatt (58)
12 Ray Redington Jr (51)
13 Dallas Seavey (14)
14 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (47)
15 Jessie Royer (27)
16 Michelle Phillips (15)
17 Abbie West (69)^Q
At Kaltag
18 Wade Marrs (67)
19 Paul Gebhardt (35)
20 John Baker (53)

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.

While it looks like Aliy has a 6-hour lead over Martin, Martin took the 8-hour stop at Ruby, so he is really two hours ahead of her. That isn’t much, but Aliy still has to figure out where she wants to stop. They are the lead group at this point. Jeff and Sonny are still waiting out their mandatory 24-hour stop.

At Nulato
1 Martin Buser (36)
Beyond Galena
2 Sonny Lindner (70)
3 Aliy Zirkle (10)
4 Jeff King (17)
5 Nicolas Petit (29)
6 Robert Sørlie (22)
7 Dallas Seavey (14)
8 Kelly Maixner (13)
9 Aaron Burmeister (23)
10 Hugh Neff (61)
At Galena
11 Mitch Seavey (6)
12 Paul Gebhardt (35)
13 John Baker (53)
14 Ray Redington Jr (51)
15 Michelle Phillips (15)
16 Hans Gatt (58)
17 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (47)
Beyond Ruby
18 Abbie West (69)^Q
19 Jessie Royer (27)
20 Michael Williams, Jr. (7)

Ramey Smith scratched at Ruby citing illness among his dogs. John Dixon scratched at Ophir, with no known reason yet, but probably the puppies weren’t happy. Both were down to a dozen dogs, which is very unusual for Ramey at this point in the race, and both had finished their mandatory 24-hour stops. Warm weather promotes illness among dogs as well as humans.

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.

Jeff King is the first to the Yukon, but the top five need to take their 24-hour rest, and there is an 8-hour required on the Yukon.

Lev Shvarts ended his race at Rohn with a scratch, joining a dozen others.

At Ruby
1 Jeff King (17)
2 Sonny Lindner (70)
Beyond Cripple
3 Martin Buser (36)
4 Aliy Zirkle (10)
5 Robert Sørlie (22)
6 Kelly Maixner (13)
7 Nicolas Petit (29)
8 Mitch Seavey (6)
9 Hans Gatt (58)
At Cripple
10 Aaron Burmeister (23)
11 John Baker (53)
12 Paul Gebhardt (35)
13 Hugh Neff (61)
14 Ray Redington Jr (51)
15 Michael Williams, Jr. (7)
16 Dallas Seavey (14)
17 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (47)

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.

As people begin taking their 24-hour stops, Sonny Linder is going for the Halfway Gold. Update: Aaron got there first.

At Cripple
1 Aaron Burmeister (23)
2 Jeff King (17)
3 Sonny Lindner (70)
Beyond Ophir
4 Paul Gebhardt (35)
5 John Baker (53)
6 Martin Buser (36)
At Ophir
7 Nicolas Petit (29)
8 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (47)
9 Ramey Smyth (49)
Beyond Takotna
10 Kelly Maixner (13)
At Takotna
11 Aliy Zirkle (10)
12 Robert Sørlie (22)
13 Dallas Seavey (14)
14 Mitch Seavey (6)
15 Hans Gatt (58)
16 Ray Redington Jr (51)
17 Jessie Royer (27)
18 Michelle Phillips (15)
19 Katherine Keith (63)^R
20 Richie Diehl (11)

Dalzell Gorge took out four more team: Scott Janssen, Karen Ramstead, Cindy Abbot, and Ellen Halverson. Jake Berkowitz is finally listed as officially scratched from the destruction of his sled on the Burn. Ice, no snow, no control, no braking. The lack of snow means you have to find a stream to get water for your dogs, instead of just melting snow. The field is down to 57 teams.

Update: Scott Janssen, the Mushing Mortician, was actually injured on the Burn with a concussion and a broken ankle. Karen Ramstead was withdrawn by race officials because they felt her injuries were too serious for any attempt to continue.

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.

The trail is in better shape after the Burn, so mushers can get off the brake pad and let their teams run. Everyone has been doing their best to keep speeds down to prevent injuries to the dogs and themselves.

At Takotna
1 Aliy Zirkle (10)
Beyond McGrath
2 Nicolas Petit (29)
3 Aaron Burmeister (23)
4 Robert Sørlie (22)
At McGrath
5 Sonny Lindner (70)
6 Jeff King (17)
7 Hugh Neff (61)
Beyond Nikolai
8 Paul Gebhardt (35)
9 Mitch Seavey (6)
10 Dallas Seavey (14)
11 Hans Gatt (58)
12 John Baker (53)
13 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (47)
14 Cim Smyth (28)
15 Ray Redington Jr (51)
16 Jessie Royer (27)
17 Katherine Keith (63)^R
18 Richie Diehl (11)
19 Michelle Phillips (15)
20 Abbie West (69)^Q

Both DeeDee Jonrowe and Linwood Fielder got mugged by the Dalzell Gorge and scratched at Rohn. The Burn is worse than ever, so they are well out of it.

So far people and equipment are suffering the damage. The current leader, Martin Buser has a badly sprained ankle, Aaron Burmeister has a dislocated knee, Jim Lanier thinks he pulled his Achilles tendon, etc.

Jim Lanier decided to scratch at Rainy Pass, while Gus Guenther & Mike Santos made the same decision at Rohn. Jan Steves made it to Rainy Pass and scratched.

Jake Berkowitz is currently stranded in the Burn with his sled smashed and unrepairable. He punched the emergency button on his GPS, as there is no way of taking care of his team without the supplies on the sled, and no way of bringing them along if he tried to walk out with the team.

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.

The race is definitely on with Hugh Neff moving up of his sixtieth starting position to sixth on the trail at 7:20pm CST.

Beyond Rohn
1 Martin Buser (36)
At Rohn
2 Kelly Maixner (13)
3 Michael Williams, Jr. (7)
4 Nicolas Petit (29)
5 Paul Gebhardt (35)
6 Hugh Neff (61)
Beyond Rainy Pass
7 Aaron Burmeister (23)
8 Cim Smyth (28)
9 Aliy Zirkle (10)
10 Jeff King (17)
11 Richie Diehl (11)
12 Robert Sørlie (22)
13 Sonny Lindner (70)
14 DeeDee Jonrowe (16)
15 Scott Janssen (20)
16 Peter Kaiser (43)
17 Hans Gatt (58)
18 Michelle Phillips (15)
19 Jake Berkowitz (37)
At Rainy Pass
20 Allen Moore (19)

Cindy Gallea (42) has scratched at Skwenta. As she had all of her dogs, I would guess that either she was injured or her sled is busted. Jim Lanier reported getting tossed off his sled in that area, but he is fine in his hockey pads.

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.

The real racing has started.

Beyond Yentna

1 Dan Kaduce (5)
2 Michael Williams, Jr. (7)
3 Paige Drobny (3)
4 Curt Perano (2)
5 Aliy Zirkle (10)
6 Gus Guenther (4)
7 Richie Diehl (11)
8 Scott Janssen (20)
9 Mitch Seavey (6)
10 DeeDee Jonrowe (16)
11 Michelle Phillips (15)
12 Allen Moore (19)
13 Robert Sørlie (22)
14 Kelly Maixner (13)
15 Aaron Burmeister (23)
16 Nathan Schroeder (25)^R
17 Paul Gebhardt (35)
18 Christian Turner (21)^R
19 Martin Buser (36)
20 Charley Bejna (26)^R

The moon is only 4% illuminated, but it is waxing. The sunrise is about 8AM AKST and sunset at 6:30PM AKST with daylight increasing by 6 minutes a day. You really don’t want to deal with Happy Valley Steps or the Dalzell Gorge at night.

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.

The temperature has at least been shamed into dropping below freezing, but there isn’t any extra snow on the trail, so it will help the dogs be a bit more comfortable, but not do much for the trail.

Craig Medred, a veteran Alaska outdoor writer now working for the Alaska Dispatch has talked to people who know current conditions first hand. The general advice is to go slow and be among the first teams on the trail.

Jeff King, Jim Lanier, Cindy Abbott, and Jan Steves have all said they will be wearing helmets. Brent Sass’s concussion has convinced them that it is a good idea.

If dogs start getting hurt, teams will definitely drop out. The lack of snow will probably cause a spike in pad cuts even with booties. Aliy Zirkle is right that no one guarantees a groomed trail, but if she has to start dropping dogs early on, she will pull out. The majority of her team just won the Yukon Quest, so she can’t be reckless. She has been second two years in a row, and she wants to win, but not at any price.

She made the point that the trail is the same for all teams. If she had thought about that a little more, she wouldn’t have said it. This trail is going to change for every team after the first one – usually not for the better.

Today is Susan Butcher Day in Alaska, so there will be the official start of the Iditarod on the slushy, wet streets of Anchorage with no real racing:

1 Curt Perano (2)
2 Paige Drobny (3)
3 Gus Guenther (4)
4 Dan Kaduce (5)
5 Mitch Seavey (6)
6 Michael Williams, Jr. (7)
7 Yvonne Dabakk (8)^R
8 Newton Marshall (9)
9 Aliy Zirkle (10)
10 Richie Diehl (11)
11 Tommy Jordbrudal (12)^R
12 Kelly Maixner (13)
13 Dallas Seavey (14)
14 Michelle Phillips (15)
15 DeeDee Jonrowe (16)
16 Jeff King (17)
17 Monica Zappa (18)^R
18 Allen Moore (19)
19 Scott Janssen (20)
20 Christian Turner (21)^R [Read more →]

At 10:30PM CST my local temperature is 38°F; Nome, Alaska is 36°F; and Anchorage is 45°F.

Since they decided not to switch to Fairbanks, the weather has been making the trail a little more friendly, but now things are back in the warming trend as the Arctic Vortex has dropped to the South again.

This is really bad news for the Siberian teams [Ellis, Ramstead, Norris, and Dabakk] and for John Baker’s team. These teams really need temperatures of near 0°F to be comfortable. They will be very slow for the first third of the race below the Alaskan Range.

Four-time winner Jeff King is taking a helmet with him, specifically for the descent into the Dalzell Gorge, and Jim Lanier, the oldest musher at 73, is training in hockey pads.

Ed Stielstra of Michigan has decided not to race. There was no reason given.

They should assign the bib numbers tonight, so I can post the list tomorrow.

While the ‘parade’ takes place next Saturday on Susan Butcher Day, the actual race begins on Sunday in Willow, Alaska.

There are two mushers that won’t be in this race: Brent Sass and Lance Mackey. Brent withdrew because of the concussion he received on the Yukon Quest trail, and Lance is recovering from major oral surgery.

Among the 70 teams that will compete two jumped out at me: Robert Sørlie and Cindy Abbott.

Robert, a Norwegian, has only run the Iditarod four times before, but he won the race twice, the only non-North American to win. A total of five Norwegians have signed up for this year’s race.

Cindy is the toughest person I have ever heard of. Last year she raced 600 miles with a broken pelvis, and she came back this year to finish what she had started. She definitely does not give up easily.

The trail and distances between checkpoints:

Willow – Start
Yentna Station – 52 miles [84 km]
Skwentna – 34 miles [55 km]
Finger Lake – 45 miles [72 km]
Rainy Pass – 30 miles [48 km]
Rohn – 48 miles [77 km]
Nikolai – 75 miles [121 km]
McGrath – 54 miles [87 km] [Spirit of Alaska]
Takotna – 18 miles [29 km]
Ophir – 25 miles [40 km]
Cripple – 59 miles [95 km] [Halfway]
Ruby – 112 miles [180 km] [First to the Yukon]
Galena – 52 miles [84 km]
Nulato – 52 miles [84 km]
Kaltag – 42 miles [68 km]
Unalakleet – 90 miles [145 km] [Gold Coast]
Shaktoolik – 42 miles [68 km]
Koyuk – 48 miles [77 km]
Elim – 48 miles [77 km]
Golovin – 28 miles [45 km]
White Mountain – 18 miles [29 km]
Safety – 55 miles [88 km]
Nome – 22 miles [35 km]

The items in italics after checkpoints are awards for being first to those points.

The distance is from the previous checkpoint. Some teams in the early going will travel at 12 mph [20kph] or better with all 16 dogs eager to go. There are reasons not to do this.

[Read more →]

Robert Peston, the BBC business editor, explains that the Cyprus rescue breaks all the rules. There were rules established about structuring the bail-outs, and taking money from depositors is exactly the reverse of what the ‘rules’ mandate.

As things stand now, the banks in Cyprus may never reopen. The Euro-Techs may have forced the Cypriots into default with their ‘bailout’, which will flush markets and the Euro into the septic tank. Stand back and watch the dominoes fall.

——-

The Alaska Dispatch gives the real story behind what happened to Cindy Abbott. The best I can say about the ‘official’ announcement from the Iditarod Trail Committee is that they might have been concerned about privacy issues regarding Cindy’s medical condition.

Cindy did not injure her leg on the Burn, and she did not pull a muscle on the Yukon – she broke her pelvis about 20 miles out of Willow after losing control on glare overflow ice. Because of her underlying medical condition, she lives in fairly constant pain, so she has a high tolerance and didn’t realize how serious her injury was. She traveled about 600 miles on a dog sled with the broken ends of the bone grinding on each other.

She was caring for her dogs, lifting hay bales and dog food, and mushing, while occasionally taking a couple of ibuprofen, until just short of Kaltag when the team refused to race into the wind on the Yukon.

Back in my Day 11 post, I expressed my concern and frustration about the fate of Cindy, because she was way overdue in Kaltag. I watch the leaders, but the stories in back of the pack, especially the stories about the rookies, are of real interest to me. I do some number-crunching to figure out how they are doing and whether they are waxing or waning at various stages of the race. Cindy was doing fine [which is fairly amazing given her injury], with good consistent times, and then this anomaly.

The woman has real intestinal fortitude, true grit. I’m sorry that she didn’t realize her goal of finishing, but she is a great example for people who think things are just too hard to do.

Christine Roalofs made it into Nome at 4:36PM CDT yesterday, and took the Red Lantern for the Iditarod XLI.

The second place and second-to-last place finishers were the same as last year: Aliy Zircle and Bob Chlupach.

There were 1029 dogs and 65 teams at the start, but only 543 dogs and 54 teams finished. 140 dogs and 11 teams left the race when they scratched or were withdrawn, meaning 346 dogs were dropped during the race for various reasons. Dorado, a dog on Jodi Bailey’s team died as the result of an accident after being dropped at Unalakleet.

Only two of the 11 teams that failed to finish were rookies. There were 3 scratches at Unalakleet, tied to the trail conditions. Five teams scratched during the first half of the race, including two at Iditarod. [Ed Stielstra is not counted in these numbers because he scratched before racing started at Willow.]

[Read more →]