Category — Iditarod

Five teams arrive at Rohn

1 Paul Gebhardt (15)
2 Sebastian Schnuelle (34)
3 Rick Swenson (8)
4 Aaron Burmeister (56)
5 Hugh Neff (55)

Melissa Owens (30) is doing very well in her second Iditarod. The 19-year-old from Nome is currently running in 6^th place. Last year she made it back to Nome just in time for school.

Karin Hendrickson (29) is the leading rookie musher, back in 39^th place. The hard part is scheduling rest. There will be a lot of different groups taking the lead as people tend to cluster based on similar rest patterns.

Note that I am counting only the days of the actual race, and don’t include the pre-race parade in the count. Also note that I change days based on Central Daylight Savings Time, not Alaska time.

[10:45am CDT] Updated list of mushers out of Rohn below the fold. There are still 4 teams in Finger Lake.
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Update: Lance Mackey decided to it was time and was the first into Rainy Pass. There is snow falling, so you want to get through the Pass ASAP.

Update 2: Arrivals at Rainy Pass

1 Lance Mackey (47)
2 Bjornar Andersen (18)
3 Ramey Smyth (16)
4 Aliy Zirkle (24)
5 Hans Gatt (25)
6 Jeff King (41)

Quest winner in Finger Lake.

1 Sebastian Schnuelle (34)
2 Cim Smyth (37)
3 Robert Bundtzen (51)
4 Linwood Fiedler (28)
5 Sonny Lindner (42)
6 Wade Marrs (48)^R
7 Harry Alexie (67)^R
8 Nancy Yoshida (3)^R
9 Lou Packer (43)^R
10 Laura Daugereau (45)

Sebastian Schnuelle has obviously decided he wants to get through Rainy Pass as soon as possible, and his dogs want to run. The trail on packed snow will get worse as the teams use it.

Harry Alexie is showing his sprint skills, moving from the second to last start up to number 7.

Rachael Scdoris (58), the visually impaired musher from Bend, Oregon, has moved up to 15.

The leaders arrived at the Yentna checkpoint:

Rick Swenson (8)
Paul Gebhardt (15)
Ryan Redington (13)
Nancy Yoshida (3)^R
Ray Redington Jr (10)
Michael Suprenant (11)^R
Jake Berkowitz (12)
Ed Iten (4)
Aaron Peck (2)
Warren Palfrey (7)
Allen Moore (6)
Rick Larson (5)

The Starting Grid:

Aaron Peck (2)
Nancy Yoshida (3)^R
Ed Iten (4)
Rick Larson (5)
Allen Moore (6)
Warren Palfrey (7)
Rick Swenson (8)
Blake Matray (9)^R
Ray Redington Jr (10)
Michael Suprenant (11)^R
Jake Berkowitz (12)
Ryan Redington (13)
Gerry Willomitzer (14)
Paul Gebhardt (15)
Ramey Smyth (16)
Jessie Royer (17)
Bjornar Andersen (18)
Matt Hayashida (19)
Trent Herbst (20)
Mitch Seavey (21)
Judy Currier (22)
Robert Nelson (23)
Aliy Zirkle (24)
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The Anchorage Daily News reports on the official start of the Iditarod, which is more of a pre-race parade. The racing actually begins tomorrow at the re-start in Willow.

Two areas to watch are around Rainy Pass because of all of the fresh snow on the trail, and then between Nikolai and McGrath because of a large increase in moose in the area. While trail conditions are better than yesterday, they can change with a snow storm or a wind shift.

Contrary to popular belief, snow isn’t good for sled dog races, but this year’s Iditarod is going to have to deal with it.

From the Anchorage Daily News : Iditarod Trail missing under deep snow

… Out with Oatley somewhere along the trail was Merchant’s husband, Bill, an Iditarod trailbreaker. He went ahead of the Invitational on a snowmobile trying to pack out a route in fresh, waist-deep snow.

Steve Perrin, owner of the Rainy Pass Lodge at Puntilla, said on Monday that Merchant’s new, 120-horsepower Yamaha Viking Professional — a snowmobile designed to go through deep snow — ended up so bogged down that two of Perrin’s sons had to help Merchant dig it out.

That snowmobile costs about $11K and is used by skiing areas to groom runs. It has large, wide-spread steering skis, and a large track. If it is bogging down, think about the two-runner sleds used by mushers. It may be time to think about a toboggan.

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While it is five months until Susan Butcher Day and the start of the next race, MSNBC ran this article that I have been meaning to post: Why Iditarod sled dogs are super dogs

Alaskan huskies that participate in the grueling Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race must run 1,100 miles while enduring heavy blizzards, temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit and winds up to 60 miles per hour, all of which earn the hearty canines status as the world’s premier ultra-endurance animal athletes.

How do they do it? New research suggests the canines are superior to most other mammals, including humans, in at least three key areas: They are unusually adept at adapting to exercise, they have superior aerobic capacity and are unusually efficient in using food as fuel.

These dogs have evolved into the nearly perfect endurance athletes, although the article is mistaken in identifying them as “Alaskan huskies” as the sled dogs tend to be the result of a mix of several different breeds.

From Lance Mackey’s website

Update on “Zorro”
April 2, 2008:
Zorro is in Seattle with Lance and Tonya. The best news is, vets have completed an MRI and Zorro will NOT need back surgery at this time. He has a minor concussion, some bruising on the lung, 3 broken ribs, swelling, bruising & bleeding on the spine with one injured disc. Zorro is responding to things around him. They expect, with time, he will get feeling in his back legs and be able to stand and walk. Zorro will be released friday evening from the Seattle vet clinic to come home and begin his long road to recovery with veterinarians in Fairbanks. Zorro will need 6-8 months of care and therapy. Doctors are optimistic for his recovery.

Of course, this means his racing days are over, but he will still have a life in the kennel.

The good news is that the winner of the race has arrived back in Nome and Mitch Seavey wins the $100K:

March 28, 2008, Nome, Alaska
Unofficially, at 11:29:45 pm, Mitch Seavey of Sterling, Alaska, finished the 2008 Centennial running of the All Alaska Sweepstakes Race in 61 hours, 29 minutes and 45 seconds, shattering the 1910 “Iron Man” Johnson Sweepstakes record of 74 hours, 14 minutes and 37 seconds.

The bad news is below the fold:

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The final mushers have made it into Nome:

76 Martin Koenig (96)^r [Montana]

77 Liz Parrish (75)^r [Oregon]

78 Deborah Bicknell (21)^r

That means that Deborah Bicknell wins the Red Lantern for being the last finisher and it’s 50 weeks until the Iditarod.

I feel really bad for Molly Yazwinski (62)^r who scratched at White Mountain today. She left just before midnight on the 16^th with Liz and Deborah, but apparently had to turn back. I would guess it was her team, because humans can fool themselves into believing and doing incredibly foolish things, but dogs tend to be more realistic. So close, but no belt buckle.

For a round-up of all the prizes awarded read the Finishers Banquet article at the official race website.

It’s drawing to a close:

Finished at Nome:

69 Richard Savoyski (90)^r
70 Sue Allen (27)
71 Wayne Curtis (22)
72 Sue Morgan (72)^r [Utah]
73 Trent Herbst (85)
74 Heather Siirtola (47)
75 Gene Smith (53)^r [Washington]

On the trail out of White Mountain:

76 Martin Koenig (96)^r [Montana]

At White Mountain for the mandatory 8-hour rest.

77 Liz Parrish (75)^r [Oregon]
78 Molly Yazwinski (62)^r
79 Deborah Bicknell (21)^r

I was getting concerned about Michael Suprenant (46)^r who left Elim on 03/14/08 at 22:10 and didn’t show up at White Mountain all day yesterday and most of today. He is now listed as scratched at Elim, but there’s no explanation yet. A lot of people should have passed him if he was stopped near the trail.

The “Red Lantern” for the last place finisher is all that’s left, and it should be awarded tomorrow.

This is what it looks like this morning:

Arrived in Nome:

66 Anne Capistrant (88)^r
67 Kirk Barnum (31)^r [Montana]
68 Eric Rogers (25)

Between White Mountain and Nome

69 Gene Smith (53)^r [Washington]
70 Wayne Curtis (22)
71 Sue Allen (27)
72 Richard Savoyski (90)^r
73 Trent Herbst (85)
74 Heather Siirtola (47)
75 Sue Morgan (72)^r [Utah]

Still in White Mountain

76 Martin Koenig (96)^r [Montana]

And heading for White Mountain

77 Michael Suprenant (46)^r
78 Molly Yazwinski (62)^r
79 Liz Parrish (75)^r [Oregon]
80 Deborah Bicknell (21)^r

Even this late there has been some shifting in position, more from some slowing down, than people speeding up.

^r – Iditarod rookie

This is the status for the field as the race winds down:

Finished in Nome since this morning

61 Joe Runyan (83) [New Mexico]
62 Dries Jacobs (65)^r [Belgium]
63 Rich Corcoran (84)^r
64 Laura Daugereau (29)^r [Washington]
65 Jake Berkowitz (43)^r [Michigan]

On the trail out of White Mountain

66 Kirk Barnum (31)^r [Montana]
67 Anne Capistrant (88)^r
68 Eric Rogers (25)

In White Mountain for the mandatory 8-hour rest stop

69 Sue Allen (27)
70 Gene Smith (53)^r [Washington]
71 Wayne Curtis (22)
72 Richard Savoyski (90)^r
73 Trent Herbst (85)
74 Sue Morgan (72)^r [Utah]
75 Heather Siirtola (47)

On the trail out of Elim

76 Michael Suprenant (46)^r
77 Martin Koenig (96)^r [Montana]

Still in Elim

78 Molly Yazwinski (62)^r
79 Liz Parrish (75)^r [Oregon]
80 Deborah Bicknell (21)^r

Joe Runyon came out of retirement to act as Rachael Scdoris’s “guide” and then starting hitting 9 mph speeds after Rachael scratched. He obviously hasn’t forgotten how to run the race.

At this point people tend to cluster, to be sure no one gets left behind. Now the point is to finish and at least get the belt buckle.

^r – Iditarod rookie

The race is winding down with only 20 teams left to go and everyone on the north coast.
Latest Finishers:

52 William Hanes (74)

53 Zoya DeNure (89)^r

54 Benedikt Beisch (64)^r [Germany]

55 Matt Calore (30)

56 Karen Ramstead (19) [Alberta]

57 Joe Gans (12)^r

58 Rick Holt (20)

59 Jeff Deeter (50)^r

60 Sam Deltour (63)^r [Belgium]

Sam Deltour of Belgium just arrived in Nome, but he arrived with all 16 dogs still in harness, something no one else has done this year. He’s a rookie, and if he’s going to continue to race, he just completed a hell of a training run. Veteran dogs are in some ways more important than a veteran musher, so if he can keep this team together and healthy, he will be very competitive in long distance racing for a while.

Of passing interest, while most people are struck by the fact that Zoya DeNure was a former fashion model, she also has a blog, which is obviously more important, because catblogging is more important than catwalking.

The end of the race is on the trail out of Koyuk where 78^th Molly Yazwinski (62), 79^th Liz Parrish (75), and 80^th Deborah Bicknell (21) have just left for Elim.