Category — Iditarod

Mitch Seavey (21) is the father of Dallas Seavey (62), who is married to Jen Seavey (61)^R.

Sonny Lindner (42) is the father of Chad Lindner (26)^R.

Cim Smyth (37) and Ramey Smyth (16) are brothers. [Becca Moore, Ramey’s wife, was a Yukon Quest rookie this year.]

Ray Redington Jr (10) and Ryan Redington (13) are brothers.

Aliy Zirkle (24) is married to Allen Moore (6).

[This could be the backdrop for the next National Lampoon “vacation” movie.]

David Sawatzky (66) was faced with the ultimate frustration. He has scratched after leaving Safety for Nome because his dogs just didn’t want to move. He led them for several miles, but fatigue got the best of him. His 11 dogs made it to Safety at about 7 mph, so they still had the pace, but the leader apparently quit.

The “red lantern”, Alan Peck (32)^R, is on the trail beyond Unalakleet headed for Shaktoolik.

Finishers as of Midnight CDT:

33 Allen Moore (6)
34 Robert Bundtzen (51)
35 Jim Lanier (35)
36 Ryan Redington (13)
37 Harry T Alexie (67)^R
38 Bill Cotter (65)
39 Rick Larson (5)
40 Karin Hendrickson (29)^R
41 Cindy Gallea (49)
42 Mike Williams (39)

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As I expected, Aaron Peck (2), who has been moving with the minimum of 6 dogs, has had to scratch in Elim. He waited to see if an extended rest would help, but I would guess that one or more dogs was no longer willing to pull. The real problem was probably that one of the dogs that had to be left at a checkpoint was probably his real lead dog, and without a strong leader the team won’t hold together.

The current “red lantern”, Alan Peck (32)^R, still hasn’t shown up in Unalakleet. He left Kaltag with Timothy Hunt (64)^R at 7:45PM AKDT on 3/19. Hunt is already in Shaktoolik. It is 90 miles. He may be hunkered down somewhere because the wind has come up again producing -20° to -30° windchills.

Update: After over 40 hours Alan has arrived in Unalakleet.

Chad Lindner (26)^R is the first rookie into Nome. He pulled away after the weather improved.

Special mention for Jake Berkowitz (12) who arrived in Nome with all 16 dogs, the only complete team in the race. That has to be bittersweet for Robert Bundtzen (51), because Jake had a “puppy” team that belonged to Dr. Bundtzen and Zack Steer, and Dr. Bundtsen still isn’t in Nome.

Today’s finishers as of Midnight CDT:

19 Warren Palfrey (7)
20 Ray Redington Jr (10)
21 Matt Hayashida (19)
22 Sven Haltmann (53)
23 Linwood Fiedler (28)
24 Gerry Willomitzer (14)
25 Rick Swenson (8)
26 Judy Currier (22)
27 Gerald Sousa (36)
28 Bruce Linton (40)
29 Robert Nelson (23)
30 Chad Lindner (26)^R
31 Jake Berkowitz (12)
32 Ed Stielstra (46)
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The Anchorage Daily News has a feature article on Larry: Mackey’s famed lead dog hangs up his harness

Larry has finished eight Iditarods — seven with Mackey and one with former Mackey neighbor Paul Gebhardt from Kasilof — and four Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Races, not to mention dozens of middle-distance sled dog races.

His record as a leader is remarkable.

Larry has led teams in 10 races of 1,000 miles, and he has won seven of them. Along the Iditarod Trail, he has become almost as famous as Mackey.
…

Larry made a big name for himself in 2007 by becoming the dog to win the golden harness in both the Yukon Quest and Iditarod.

Larry is 9-years-old, and while Maple was the primary lead dog this year, Larry had to take over when the team encountered people, because Maple doesn’t react well to crowds.

The Iditarod Trail committee has announced the death of Omen, an 8-year-old male, on the Rick Larson (5) team between Elim and White Mountain, and Maynard, a 5-year-old male, on the Warren Palfrey (7) team about an hour outside of Nome. There is no obvious reason for either death.

I looked at the records for both teams, and they weren’t in active contention with anyone at the times of the deaths, just cruising towards the finish. The Larson team had been in a one-for-one rest/run regimen at the time, after an extended rest to wait out the wind. The Palfrey team was just loping towards the end with no one close to them.

Ed Iten (4) of Kotzebue and Melissa Owens (30) of Nome scratched at Elim today. They were so close, but their dogs were not ready to go further. They are both from coastal towns and their dogs were raised in the winds and cold, so they were better prepared than others, but the dogs just didn’t want to continue.

Aaron Peck (2) is on the trail between Shaktoolik and Koyuk, but he is running with 6 dogs, the minimum team. If any of his dogs has a problem, his race is over. He’s from Grand Prairie, Alberta, and the winds chewed up his team.

Everyone has left Kaltag, so the race is around the Norton Sound

The recent finishers:

9 Ramey Smyth (16)
10 Hans Gatt (25)
11 Sonny Lindner (42)
12 Jeff King (41)
13 DeeDee Jonrowe (31)
14 Ken Anderson (54)
15 Hugh Neff (55)
16 Paul Gebhardt (15)
17 Aliy Zirkle (24)
18 Martin Buser (33)
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So far today these teams have ended the pain, and the dogs can finally get warm:

4 Mitch Seavey (21)
5 Cim Smyth (37)
6 Dallas Seavey (62)
7 Aaron Burmeister (56)
8 Jessie Royer (17)

The last two teams, Alan Peck (32)^R and Timothy Hunt (64)^R are on the trail between Eagle Island and Kaltag.

The enforced rest and better weather have lead to some very high speed runs today.

The finishers as of midnight CDT:

1 Lance Mackey (47) 03/18 11:38:46 AKDT
– 15 dogs 9 days 21 hrs 38 min 46 secs 4.76 mph

2 Sebastian Schnuelle (34) 03/18 19:05:04 AKDT
– 13 dogs 10 days 5 hrs 5 mins 4 secs 4.61 mph

3 John Baker (44) 03/18 20:18:51 AKDT
– 9 dogs 10 days 6 hrs 18 mins 51 secs 4.59 mph

The winds dropped to 10 mph and the temperature rose, so everyone started moving.

Current Standings:

4 Aaron Burmeister (56)
5 Mitch Seavey (21)
6 Cim Smyth (37)
7 Dallas Seavey (62)
8 Jessie Royer (17)
9 Ramey Smyth (16)
10 Hans Gatt (25)
11 Sonny Lindner (42)
12 Jeff King (41)
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Update: via IditaBlog I clocked Lance Mackey (47) under the arch at Nome at 2:39PM CDT.  It would have been sooner, but he stopped on the ice just outside of town to give all the dogs a good rubbing and scratching.

1 Lance Mackey (47) – left Safety at 11:48AM CDT, 22 miles from the finish.
2 Sebastian Schnuelle (34) – left White Mountain at 11:56AM CDT.
3 John Baker (44) – left White Mountain at 12:24PM CDT.

4 Aaron Burmeister (56) – arrived at White Mountain at 1:26PM CDT [8-hour mandatory stop].
5 Mitch Seavey (21) – arrived at White Mountain at 1:30PM CDT [8-hour mandatory stop].

6 Dallas Seavey (62) – left Elim at 6:19AM CDT.
7 Cim Smyth (37) – left Elim at 7:03AM CDT.
8 Jessie Royer (17) – left Elim at 7:38AM CDT.
9 Ramey Smyth (16) – left Elim at 7:40AM CDT.

10 Ed Iten (4) – arrived at Elim at 11:29AM CDT.

Jeff Holt (68), whose dog, Victor,died earlier in the race, has scratched outside of Grayling.

The ADN has a piece on musher Lou Packer (43): Ordeal leaves musher grieving. Dr. Packer had two dogs, Dizzy and Grasshopper, die in the ordeal outside of Iditarod.

Lance Mackey (47) has been resting during the 8-hour mandatory stop in White Mountain since 9:05PM CDT. He can have lunch in Nome, if he wants to.

Sebastian Schnuelle (34) and John Baker (44) left Elim a little after 4PM, so they could be in Nome Wednesday night.

The traffic for Thursday is not going to be much heavier.

Jessie Royer (17) must have a leader that enjoys sticking her/his head out the window of airplanes because she has been tearing up the trail while everyone else is burrowing. She roared in Koyuk at near 9½ mph, and left with a two hour stop.

ADN says that the Wednesday weather will be as bad as Iditarod racers face another day of brutal wind.

There have been a bit over a half dozen teams that have leapt up the rankings. They obviously have dogs that don’t mind the wind.

As Josh Rogers at Iditablog points out, even seasoned veterans like Jeff King (41) and Hans Gatt (25) can’t move when the dogs don’t want to go.

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The Official site finally posted on Kim Darst (52) and Blake Matray (9). They are alright, but have decided to scratch, and are being escorted to Shageluk.

Lou Packer’s wife had been following him on the GPS tracker and noticed he had been going at less that 1 mph for an extended period, and she called race officials.

Lance Mackey arrived in Elim at 7:20AM CDT and Sebastian Schnuelle left Koyuk at 8:48AM CDT. It looks like the real race is for second at this point.

Lance Mackey (47) left Koyuk just before midnight CDT, 3 hours after Sebastian Schnuelle (34) arrived, and is hitting the trail with 9 hours of rest. Lance described the trip to Koyuk in the wind as one of the toughest runs he has ever made.

Laura Daugereau (45) scratched at Grayling. No definitive word as to why, but I would think that the 50° temperature drop and the wind chill played a part for the Port Gamble, Washington musher.

Hugh Neff (55) has dropped several places getting treatment for severe frostbite on his face. The run up the coast is directly into the wind with a resulting windchill below -50°. These conditions really require heated goggles.

Don’t miss the earlier “Terrible News” post on the situation of the last three teams in the race [Lou Packer (43)^R, Blake Matray (9)^R, and Kim Darst (52)^R] on the trail from Iditarod. They didn’t say why they didn’t spot a problem using the GPS units they require every sled to have in the race.

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From the Iditarod site a press release

Earlier today (at approximately 2pm Alaska Time) Iditarod Race officials deployed an Iditarod Air Force (IAF) aircraft to check on the whereabouts of Iditarod Rookies Lou Packer (bib #43), Kim Darst (bib #52) and Blake Matray (bib #9). All three mushers were overdue on their run to Shaguluk. Packer was located approximately 22 miles past Iditarod. He signaled that has was in distress. The (IAF) pilot landed and found that two of Packer’s 15 dogs were deceased. A plane load of dogs were immediately flown out and a second flight is underway to airlift Packer and the remainder of the team.

A group of local residents from Shagaluk are on the trail to assess and assist Darst and Matray.

A necropsy will be conducted by a board certified pathologist to make every attempt to determine the cause of death of the two dogs.

Lou Packer is a doctor from Wasillia who was featured on NPR that I mentioned below the fold on my Day 8 post.

This group had been running together, so I have to wonder if they became dispersed in the blowing snow. They are all rookies.  Correction: Lou Packer left at around 2PM local on the 15^th, while Kim Darst and Blake Matray left together about 12 hours later.