Category — Iditarod

1&2 have left Koyuk, the rest are on the ice of Norton Bay.
Current Standings:

1 Lance Mackey (6) +16 min
2 Jeff King (11)
3 Ken Anderson (9)
4 Martin Buser (13)
5 Ramey Smyth (48)
6 Hans Gatt (38)
7 John Baker (67)
8 Paul Gebhardt (69)
9 Kjetil Backen (42)
10 Mitch Seavey (33)
11 Rick Swenson (61)
12 Ed Iten (32)
13 Sebastian Schnuelle (68)
14 Jessie Royer (3)
15 DeeDee Jonrowe (39)
16 Zack Steer (26)
17 Gerry Willomitzer (7)
18 Jim Lanier (4)
19 Aaron Burmeister (14)
20 Ray Redington Jr. (49)

Melissa Owens (59) stayed in Unalakleet longer, so she dropped to 29^th place, and William Kleedehn (66) is the leading rookie at 26^th place.

Rachael Scdoris (55) is at Nulato in 64^th place.

Still in 83^rd place, Steven Madsen (57) is beyond Ruby.

1&2 in Koyuk, 3 on the Sound, 4-9 in Shaktoolik, and the others on their way.
Current Standings:

1 Lance Mackey (6)
2 Jeff King (11)
3 Ken Anderson (9)
4 Hans Gatt (38)
5 Martin Buser (13)
6 Paul Gebhardt (69)
7 Mitch Seavey (33)
8 Kjetil Backen (42)
9 Rick Swenson (61)
10 Ed Iten (32)
11 Jim Lanier (4)
12 Jessie Royer (3)
13 Aaron Burmeister (14)
14 Sebastian Schnuelle (68)
15 Zack Steer (26)
16 John Baker (67)
17 DeeDee Jonrowe (39)
18 Ramey Smyth (48)
19 Gerry Willomitzer (7)
20 Hugh Neff (16)

New rookie leader with 26^th place occupied by Melissa Owens (59) who arrived in Unalakleet 20 minutes before William Kleedehn (66).

Rachael Scdoris (55) is on the trail out of Galena in 64^th place.

Steven Madsen (57) is in the back at Ruby, but it is 83^rd place after Art Church Jr. (18) scratched in Ruby and Peter Bartlett (93) scratched in Nulato.

One beyond and one in Shaktoolik with 3-14 beyond Unalakleet.
Current Standings:
1 Lance Mackey (6)
2 Jeff King (11)
3 Hans Gatt (38)
4 Paul Gebhardt (69)
5 Kjetil Backen (42)
6 Mitch Seavey (33)
7 Martin Buser (13)
8 Rick Swenson (61)
9 Ken Anderson (9)
10 Ed Iten (32)
11 Jim Lanier (4)
12 Jessie Royer (3)
13 Aaron Burmeister (14)
14 Sebastian Schnuelle (68)
15 Zack Steer (26)
16 DeeDee Jonrowe (39)
17 Ramey Smyth (48)
18 John Baker (67)
19 Gerry Willomitzer (7)
20 Ray Redington Jr. (49)

The leading rookie is still William Kleedehn (66) on the trail passed Kaltag in 28^th place.

Rachael Scdoris (55) is at Galena in 65^th place.

The back of the race is 85^th place Steven Madsen (57) on the trail beyond Cripple.

Darin Nelson (81) scratched at Galena with 9 dogs.

The two leaders have left Unalakleet, and the others have left Kaltag.

The Current Leader Board:

1 Lance Mackey (6) 12 dogs
2 Jeff King (11) 16 dogs
3 Paul Gebhardt (69) 12 dogs
4 Ramey Smyth (48) 12 dogs
5 Zack Steer (26) 12 dogs
6 Sebastian Schnuelle (68) 15 dogs
7 Kjetil Backen (42) 13 dogs
8 Hans Gatt (38) 12 dogs
9 Gerry Willomitzer (7) 13 dogs
10 Jessie Royer (3)12 dogs
11 Martin Buser (13) 14 dogs
12 Rick Swenson (61) 13 dogs
13 Jim Lanier (4) 12 dogs
14 DeeDee Jonrowe (39) 12 dogs
15 Ed Iten (32) 15 dogs
16 Ken Anderson (9) 15 dogs
17 Aaron Burmeister (14) 12 dogs
18 Silvia Willis (40) 13 dogs
19 John Baker (67) 12 dogs
20 Sigrid Ekran (24) 11 dogs

In 28^th place at Kaltag is the leading rookie, William Kleedehn (66), with 12 dogs.

Rachael Scdoris (55) had 13 dogs when she left Ruby, and is in 68^th place.

Currently at the back in 86^th place is Steven Madsen (57) with 11 dogs beyond Cripple.

The former 87^th place team of Rodney Whaley (78) had 13 dogs when arrived at Cripple, where he decided to scratch.

[Cross-posted from Why Now annex]

The two leaders are in Unalakleet and the others are beyond Kaltag
The Current standings:

1 Jeff King (11)
2 Lance Mackey (6)
3 Paul Gebhardt (69)
4 Ramey Smyth (48)
5 Zack Steer (26)
6 Sebastian Schnuelle (68)
7 Kjetil Backen (42)
8 Hans Gatt (38)
9 Gerry Willomitzer (7)
10 Jessie Royer (3)
11 Martin Buser (13)
12 Rick Swenson (61)
13 Jim Lanier (4)
14 DeeDee Jonrowe (39)
15 Ed Iten (32)
16 Ken Anderson (9)
17 Aaron Burmeister (14)
18 Silvia Willis (40)
19 John Baker (67)
20 Mitch Seavey (33)

In 28^th place, William Kleedehn (66), the leading rookie, is in Kaltag.

In 67^th place, Rachael Scdoris (55) is resting in Ruby.

At the back in 87^th place, Rodney Whaley (78) at Cripple.

[Cross-posted from Why Now annex]

Jeff King picked up the trophy and $2,500 in gold for being first to the coast, but don’t count Lance Mackey out. There was fresh snow on the long trail between Kaltag and Unalakleet and Mackey is down to 14 dogs. It is likely that Mackey preferred to rest his dogs by letting King’s 16 dogs break the trail, because he pulled over just a little passed Kaltag to camp knowing that King was withing two hours of him. There are times to lead, and times to follow in a long distance race, and new, heavy snow is a time to follow this far out.

[Cross-posted from Why Now annex]

Jeff King has opened up a 10+ mile lead on Lance Mackey according to the GPS Tracker (subscription) , and may make it t0 the coast first.

[Cross-posted from Why Now annex]

The top 2 are beyond Nulato, 3-9 are in Nulato, and the rest are beyond Galena.
Current standings:

1 Lance Mackey (6)+1½hours
2 Jeff King (11)
3 Mitch Seavey (33)
4 Paul Gebhardt (69)
5 Rick Swenson (61)
6 Hans Gatt (38)
7 Kjetil Backen (42)
8 John Baker (67)
9 Jessie Royer (3)
10 Jim Lanier (4)
11 Ramey Smyth (48)
12 Ken Anderson (9)
13 Martin Buser (13)
14 DeeDee Jonrowe (39)
15 Ed Iten (32)
16 Sigrid Ekran (24)
17 Zack Steer (26)
18 Ray Redington Jr. (49)
19 Sebastian Schnuelle (68)
20 Warren Palfrey (44)

Update: at about 10PM AKST Lance Mackey went through the Kaltag checkpoint with Jeff King about 6 miles behind him on the GPS site.

At 27^th place, William Kleedehn (66) is in Galena and still the leading rookie. Rachael Scdoris (55) is beyond Cripple in 66^th place. At the back, in 87^th place, Deborah Bicknell (21) is on the trail beyond Ophir.

[Read more →]

The top 6 are beyond Galena, 7-11 are in Galena, and the rest are beyond Ruby. Current standings:

1 Lance Mackey (6) +5hours
2 Jeff King (11)
3 Paul Gebhardt (69)
4 Mitch Seavey (33)
5 Rick Swenson (61)
6 Jim Lanier (4)
7 Ed Iten (32)
8 Kjetil Backen (42)
9 Hans Gatt (38)
10 John Baker (67)
11 Jessie Royer (3)
12 DeeDee Jonrowe (39)
13 Ken Anderson (9)
14 Sigrid Ekran (24)
15 Martin Buser (13)
16 Zack Steer (26)
17 Gerry Willomitzer (7)
18 Ray Redington Jr. (49)
19 Aaron Burmeister (14)
20 William Kleedehn (66)^rookie

[Read more →]

Current leaders and location [> indicates beyond that checkpoint]:

1 Lance Mackey (6) Ruby>
2 Jeff King (11) Ruby>
3 Kjetil Backen (42) Ruby
4 Mitch Seavey (33) Ruby
5 Hans Gatt (38) Ruby
6 John Baker (67) Ruby
7 Rick Swenson (61) Ruby
8 Jim Lanier (4) Ruby
9 Ramey Smyth (48) Ruby
10 Jessie Royer (3) Ruby
11 Paul Gebhardt (69) Ruby
12 DeeDee Jonrowe (39) Ruby
13 Sigrid Ekran (24) Ruby
14 Martin Buser (13) Ruby
15 Zack Steer (26) Ruby
16 Ed Iten (32) Ruby
17 Aaron Burmeister (14) Cripple>
18 Sebastian Schnuelle (68) Cripple>
19 Gerry Willomitzer (7) Cripple>
20 William Kleedehn (66) Cripple> [rookie]

[Read more →]

The Anchorage Daily News provides some more information on two earlier scratches:

… Jason Barron of Lincoln, Mont., scratched Thursday morning in McGrath because some of his 14 dogs were sick. Barron, 36, has finished seven Iditarods with a best of eighth place in 2006. He was 14th last year.

… Cliff Roberson scratched in Rohn after injuring himself lighting a propane stove. “The cooker blew up in his face, and burned both of his eyes. He said it blasted so hard it almost knocked him over,” said Suzanne Roberson, who spoke to her husband by satellite phone Wednesday afternoon. “If he went back out and completed the race, he’d probably end up with permanent damage to his eyes.”

I had assumed Jason Barron’s dogs had gotten sick, because that has been the pattern. Dogs are ailing because of the temperature, rather than the strains and injuries of last year.

They reported earlier that Roberson had eye injuries, and I assumed that he had gotten whacked by a tree limb while he was moving along the trail. Having a propane stove explode in your face is fairly scary, even if you weren’t alone in the middle of a whole lot of nothing and nowhere.

Lance Mackey eats well today and can afford a big tip as his is the first team to Ruby and the Yukon River, winning the First to the Yukon Award.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, Mackey will be taking the required Yukon 8-hour layover to rest his dogs during the heat of the day, and to eat the meal.

I wondered what happened to her, and the Anchorage Daily News finally explains the problem:

Rookie musher Kim Franklin of Britain was withdrawn from the race Thursday after two dogs became separated from her team. Franklin reported that one of her dogs chewed through the gangline and race officials said Franklin couldn’t find the dogs and continued to Rohn. It’s against Iditarod rules to arrive at a checkpoint without the same number of dogs.

Officials said the two dogs were found and released to their handler in Anchorage.

A tough break for the English farmer, but she did get to compete.

Things will get easier from this point as the leaders really will be the leaders in the overall race. Here are the standings this morning with the top ten all having completed their layover and on the trail to Ruby from Cripple, the longest leg in the race:

1 Lance Mackey (6)
2 Hans Gatt (38)
3 Jeff King (11)
4 Rick Swenson (61)
5 Kjetil Backen (42)
6 Aaron Burmeister (14)
7 Mitch Seavey (33)
8 John Baker (67)
9 Jim Lanier (4)
10 Sebastian Schnuelle (68)

The back of the pack is laying over in McGrath.

The leading woman, Jessie Royer (3), is in 11^th place and back on the trail. The leading rookie, William Kleedehn (66), is in 28^th place.

In 75^th place, Rachael Scdoris (55) should finish her layover in McGrath this morning.

Josh Rogers at IditaBlog updates on the First to the Yukon Award indicating that the sponsor, Millennium Hotel in Anchorage, has increased the cash to 5,000 one-dollar bills. While Lance Mackey is in a good spot to collect it, but it’s a long run to Ruby.

A little cooler today, but not the frozen conditions that make it much easier for the teams to run.