Category — Iditarod

Richie Diehl (16) and Aaron Peck (36) scratched at Unalakleet. Meredith Mapes (13) only has 7 puppies pulling the sled.

Kristy Berington (4) and Anna Berington (18) scratched at Unalakleet and Larry Daugherty (45) scratched at Kaltag.

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

Beyond White Mountain
1 Thomas Waerner (40)
At White Mountain
2 Mitch Seavey (27)
3 Jessie Royer (31)
4 Brent Sass (44)
5 Aaron Burmeister (25)
6 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (35)
7 Paige Drobny (58)
8 Ryan Redington (37)
9 Wade Marrs (7)
10 Travis Beals (20)
11 Jessie Holmes (34)
12 Ramey Smyth (5)
Beyond Elim
13 Michelle Phillips (33)
14 Mille Porsild (32)^R
15 Peter Kaiser (9)
16 Nicolas Petit (21)
At Elim
17 Jeff Deeter (24)
18 Kelly Maixner (22)
19 Aliy Zirkle (23)
[Read more →]

The standings are broken this morning apparently as a result of moving the Shaktoolik checkpoint. Thomas Waerner (40) is nearing Koyuk but no one is shown to be at or beyond the Shaktoolik checkpoint in the standings. According to the GPS Waerner, Sass, and Royer are separated by 10 miles each as they move across the Norton Sound. Once the standings are fixed I’ll post a complete list, which may simply ignore Shaktoolik.

Yep, they are ignoring Shaktoolik. Waerner is first to Koyuk.

At 9PM CDT neither the standings or the GPS are agreeing. I’ll try again tomorrow. One thing they both agree on is that Thomas Waerner is the current leader.

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

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

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 →]

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 →]

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 →]

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.

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 →]

Anchorage & Campbell Airstrip
Willow
Skwentna & Yentna, Finger Lake, Rainy Pass, Rohn
McGrath & Nikolai, Takotna, Ophir
Ruby
Galena
Nulato
Kaltag
Unalakleet
Shaktoolik
Koyuk
Elim
Golovin
White Mountain
Nome & Safety