22:50
Note- I wrote this earlier today. Only one of us vets got out of Takotna today, whic means 5 of us remain. We found out why this evening when someone pulled up an aviation weather map. The Iditarod Air Force planes are visual flight rules only, and the weather conditions for where we will need to fly through calls for Instrument Flight Rules. That's a good reason.
Takotna 3/8/13 15:22
The last team led by James Volek left just now, so our work is officially done at this checkpoint, although in reality the work has tapered off long before now with most o fthe teams leaving yesterday. None of us has heard where we're going next. It being so late in the day, I have to face the possibility that this may be my endpoint in the Iditarod this year. It is Friday afternoon and I have a flight out of Anchorage on Monday to go back home. The powers that be may decide to that they have eough vets up the trail and it makes more sense to get me back rather than send me further out. Hopefully we;ll here something soon.
The race is getting pretty exciting. Most of the teams have passed Iditarod, a former gold rush boom town and current halfway point for the race. The rankings are ever changing but a few interesting things stand out. At the moment Martin Buser is holding the lead by about five hohrs which is pretty significant at this stage. Originally from Switzerland, he is one of the big names in sled dog racing and particularly in the Iditarod, having won it four times. Only one person, Rick Swenson, has won more than four times, and he opted not to participate this year. Martin surprised everyone and has caused a big stir by takig his mandatory 24 hour break at Rohn, which is very early in the race. No one has ever done that before, and so far the strategy seems to be working. The riders also have to take two eight hour breaks: one anywhere on the Yukon River an then another one at White Mountain, which is about 70 miles shy of the finish. Martin also took his 8 hour break already, today, which is also on the early side. The test will be whether he and his dogs keep up their pace through the last leg of the race having taken their big rest so long ago. Once they hit the coast, the conditions can be rough and unpredictable, with brutal winds and suddern storms kicking up. These environmental factors have change the game in past races.
Another one to watch is Aliy Zirkle. She was in the lead during much of the race last year and ended up finishing second behind Dallas Seavey, the youngest musher ever to win and the son of an Iditarod dynasty, with both his father and Iditarod champion (Mitch, also mushing in this year's race) and grandfather a past participant. Aliy was also the first rookie to win the Yukon Quest. Personally, I think it would be really great to see a woma win te Iditarod again. There are certainly many accomplished female mushers; it is one of the few sports in which men and women compete in the same pool.
Another one I'm interested in and quietly routing for is Joar Ulsom from Norway. He is a rookie and has been in the top ten and flirting with the top 5 so far in this rae. As a rookie in the Yukon Quest last year, he came in sixth, which is an impressive showing, and then went on to win the Nadezhda Hope Race in Russia. He was the first non-native to win that race in 20 years, and he did so with the fastest time ever. The only time the Iditarod was won by a rookie musher was in 2003, by Robert Sorlie, also a Norwegian. Sorlie went on to win in 2005 as well.
Oe of the things that is so different about this sport is the variability in the successful mushers' ages and physiques. Martin Buser is in his fifties, his last win was 11 years ago , and he may well win this year for the fifth time. His experience, strategy, intelligence, and the strength of his physical team have all propelled him to the front of the pack at this point. Compare that to 26 year old former wrestling champion Dallas Seavey who won last year, running a very physical race, often stepping off the sled to run behind his dogs. This is also one of Joar's strengths; he is thin and lanky and will run through much of the hilly and mountainous areas, which is more like the terrain he is used to.
Finally one of the most interesting and well known characters in the race is Lancy Mackey. He comes from a mushing family like Dallas. In his early thirties he was diagnosed with throat cancer and was given a guarded prognosis. After battling illness and against the odds, he went on to win the Iditarod four years in a row, starting in 2007. He has had a tough couple years since then in the race, possibly in part due to the retirement of his lead dog, Larry, but he is making a strong showing this year, having won the halfway point in the race at Iditarod. I should probably make a disclaimer at this point that I am trying hard for accuracy in all these reports, but my sources are mostly the people around me, so I apologize if any of the facts are slightly off. When possible I've been sourcing info from the Iditarod website, archives, and published material.
Well, everyone else has gone to bed, I'm left holding the red lantern, so to speak, so time for me to get some sleep tonight.
Thanks for reading.
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