Tuesday 3/12 @ 2:30

With their mandatory 8 hour layover complete, Mitch Seavey and Aliy Zirkle have left White Mountain for Nome!

It's going to be a battle for first place, folks.  Who wants to stay up into the wee hours with me to see Aliy Zirkle who wins?

Here's what the mushers can look forward to for the next 77 miles.
White Mountain to Safety 55 miles
The trail from White Mountain continues up the Fish River for another 2-2.5 miles to a large island. It makes a sharp left turn and starts overland. This turn should be well marked, since a trail continues up the river to Council also. One-fourth mile after leaving the river, a trail comes in from the right (also from Council) and this intersection should be well marked but can be confusing if snow machiners or mushers have departed from the trail. The Iditarod Trail crosses a series of low hills with moderate grades and starts through the Klokeblok River drainage. There is a little vegetation (willow) along some of the creeks.At Topkok, the trail turns sharply right along the coast. The Nome Kennel Club has a shelter cabin at the bottom of Topkok Hill. There is little in the way of visual references and each hill looks like the last. Wind often exceeds 40 knots. From Topkok, the trail follows the coast westward to Solomon, passing south of the actual village (near the Old Solomon village site). from here to Safety Roadhouse, the trail is the road.

Safety to Nome 22 miles　From Safety Roadhouse to Nome the trail runs along the Nome-Solomon Road except where it passes around Cape Nome and the last seven miles into Nome. Here the trail parallels the road on the right side and presents no obstacles.

Awards

I bet some of you were wondering what you get for running/winning the Iditraod.  This year the first 30 mushers will be splitting $600,000.  Typically, the winner gets somewhere around $50,000 of that.  I'm not sure what the breakout is this year.

Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Official Truck Award

• Presented to the Iditarod winner since 1991

• 2012 Dodge Ram 4/x/4 quad cab pickup truck

• Presentation made at finish line and again at Nome banquet

GCI Dorothy G Page Halfway Award

• Presented by GCI since 1994 in honor of the late Dorothy G Page, the “Mother of the Iditarod”

• Presented at the halfway checkpoint, Iditarod in odd numbered years and Cripple in even numbered years

• First musher to the checkpoint receives a trophy and $3,000 in gold nuggets

• Presentation made at the checkpoint and again at Nome banquet

Wells Fargo Winner’s Purse Award

• Awarded at the finish line and again at the Awards Banquet in Nome

Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award

• Presented by Wells Fargo since 1993 to the first musher to the “Gold Coast” community of Unalakleet

• Musher receives a beautiful trophy and $2,500 worth of gold nuggets

• Presentation made at checkpoint and again at Awards Banquet in Nome

Wells Fargo Red Lantern Award

• Presented by Wells Fargo Bank since 1993 to the last musher to finish Race

• Musher receives a trophy made from a red lantern

• Presentation made on the street as musher comes to finish line and again at the Red Lantern banquet

Alaska Airlines Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award

• Presented since 1982 to a top 20 team

• Based on specific criteria to determine who has best demonstrated outstanding dog care throughout the Race while remaining competitive. Recipient receives a lead crystal cup on an illuminated wooden base

Sportsmanship Award

• Recipient chosen by fellow mushers

• Musher receives an engraved trophy and a $500 Fred Meyer gift certificate

• Presented at the Nome banquet

Horizon Lines Most Improved Musher Award

• Honors the musher who has bettered his/her last previous finish by the most number of places

• Winner receives an engraved trophy plus $2,000• Presented at Nome banquet

PenAir Spirit of Alaska Award

• Presented since 2000 to the first musher into McGrath

• Musher receives an original “Spirit Mask,” specially created for this event by Bristol Bay artist, Orville Lind, and a $500 credit on PenAir towards travel or freight shipments

• Presented at the McGrath checkpoint and again at the Nome banquet

Nome Kennel Club Fastest Time From Safety to Nome Award

• Presented by the Nome Kennel Club since 1973

• Winner must be in top 20

• Musher receives $500

• Presented at the Nome banquet

Rookie of the Year Award

• Presented since 1980 to the top place rookie (defined as a musher who has never before started the Race) by Clara Austin (wife of Jerry Austin) and Family of St. Michael

• Musher receives check for $1,500 and trophy

• Presented at the Nome banquet

City of Nome Lolly Medley Memorial Golden Harness Award

• Originally presented by the late Lolly Medley, Wasilla harness maker and one of two women to run the second Iditarod in 1974

• Embroidered gold colored harness

• Goes to an outstanding led dog, chosen by the mushers

• Presented at the Nome banquet

EXXONMOBIL Mushers Choice Award

• Each year the official finishers make the decision as to who was the most inspirational musher on the trail.

• The award has been presented by EXXONMOBIL since 2010

• Presented by Bill Brackin, Public Relations Manager of Alaska

• The Iditarod Limited Edition Gold Coin is valued at $3,300 and it’s surrounded by a gold chain rope.

Golden Clipboard Award

• Presented by the mushers since 2000 to a special checkpoint

• Voted on by the mushers

• Presented at the Nome banquet

Golden Stethoscope Award

• Presented by the Iditarod Official Finishers Club (IOFC) to the veterinarian whom they feel was the most helpful on the trail

• Recipient chosen by the mushers

• Recipient receives an appropriate plaque

• Presented at the Nome banquet

Northern Air Cargo Herbie Nayokpuk Memorial Award

• Presented to the musher chosen by staff and officials as the person who most closely mimics “Herbie: The Shishmaref Cannon Ball” in his/her attitude on the trail

• Recipient receives free freight allotment on Northern Air Cargo and a walrus ivory scrimshawed trophy, plus $1,049 in “pocket change” inside of a NAC jacket

• Presented at the Nome banquet

Northern Air Cargo 4-Wheeler Award

• A new 4 Wheeler will be given to a musher who has finished the race, and whose key, which is chosen randomly by the mushers, starts the 4 wheeler as they approach the Awards stage.• Presented at the Nome Banquet

Jason Mackey & Rudy Demoski Scratch

Jason Mackey & Rudy Demoski, Sr. Scratch at Unalakleet

Posted by Erin McLarnon in Iditarod
Date: March 12, 2013 10:57 am

Nome, Alaska - Tuesday, March 12, 2013 – Veteran Iditarod musher Jason Mackey (Bib# 12) of Wasilla, Alaska scratched at Unalakleet at 10:15.  Jason made the decision to scratch because he is ill.  He had 12 dogs in his team.
Veteran Iditarod musher Rudy Demoski, Sr. (Bib# 39) of Wasilla, Alaska scratched at Unalakleet at 10:20.  Demoski made the decision to scratch out of concern for his team.  He had 9 dogs in his team.

Tuesday AM Report

Mitch Seavey was first into White Mountain this morning at 5:11.  Aliy Zirkle (go Aliy!) was right behind him coming in at 5:24.  They have a mandatory 8 hour layover here, then can make that last 77 mile run to Nome.  I think the race will be decided early tomorrow morning.  They can't leave until 1:00 this afternoon and then will have another 10-12 hours running to Nome, depending on trail conditions and their dogs.

Watching the video from of the leaders coming in to the White Mountain checkpoint, the Seavey team looked really tired.  Aliy's team looked tired but much more chipper, with tails up and some pep in their step.  Eight hours of rest will do both teams and mushers a lot of good.  Both came in with 10 dogs in their harnesses.  Word is the trail has been difficult, with "sugar snow" slowing things down.

The next mushers in line are as follows:

Jeff King
Ray Redington, Jr.
Dallas Seavey
Joar Leifseth Ulsom
Nicholas Petit
Aaron Burmeister
Jake Berkowitz
Sonny Lindner
DeeDee Jonrowe
Ken Anderson

The rest of the pack is spread out pretty well between Graying, Eagle Island, Kaltag, Unalakleet, Koyuk and Elim. Cindy Abbot is still our Red Lantern carrier, but she's moving right along.  She's in Grayling, which is about 550 miles from Anchorage, so just over halfway to Nome.

All the articles I have read this morning are saying this is still anyone's race.  I wouldn't count anyone out in the top ten at this point, despite the armchair musher's predictions.  Dallas Seavey moved up from 10th to 5th overnight proving that you just can't believe everything you read. 

Stay tuned!  I'll have more updates as the day goes on.  Remember you can check the current standings at any time on the Iditarod website: http://iditarod.com/race/2013/standings/.

P.S.  I have a Insider subscription and will be watching the GPS tracker all day.  Come up and see me if you want to take a peek.

Predictions

Here is another repost from Danny Seavey.  He thinks he has the finishing order sorted out for the top 10, but I'm not so sure.  We'll see how his predictions hold up when they all come in to Nome.

So we finally have a race order, and everyone knows what place they're racing for. I'm a little surprised at the pace of the front. We're used to seeing teams skip checkpoints and making big moves on the coast, and these guys seem happy just to be making it. The weather on the river and portage seem to have taken it's toll. This field is ripe for some to move up 10 spots in one move, but I don't see anyone going for it.

The rest of the field has conceded the race to Mitch and Jeff. Anyone who wanted a shot would have left when Mitch went. Mitch is actually gaining on Jeff, and we very much have a race on our hands for first.

Aliy and Ray Jr. have an even closer race going for 3rd and 4th, and that could go right down to the wire. This may be the most entertaining finish of the race.

Aaron and Joar are the sitting ducks, both hoping to hold onto their spots, but not likely to succeed.

Jake B is the team that should be moving and picking up some ground, but he doesn't seem to feel the same. Still he'll probably pick off the previous two, and end up a very respectable 5th.

Dallas, Sonny and DeeDee round out the top 10. Dallas is low on dogs, Sonny is on his victory lap. They are both fast, but being very conservative. DeeDee is one of few teams really driving hard, and she's been gaining ground fast.

Ken Anderson is coming along looking good in 11th.

Any of these teams could still take 5th, and I expect some serious jockeying in the 5-11 range.

There will be some more serious racing for the next positions as well. We tend to focus on the front teams, but there is some good racing (and three former champions) in the teens.

This You've Got To See

Want to watch the finish of the 41st Iditarod live?  For $9.95 you can be an Iditarod Insider for 48 hours.

This You’ve Got to See. 48 Hour Pass! (For non video subscribers only)

Posted by Iditarod Carl in Featured, Iditarod
Date: March 10, 2013 8:33 am

Aliy Zirkle? Martin Buser? Mitch Seavey? It’s a close race. With a few days to go, anything can happen.
For the first time ever, the Insider team is offering a 48 Hour Pass to see the exciting finish. As a 48 Hour Pass Video Insider, you’ll have access to the Live Finish and all the video content for just $9.95.
Here’s how it works: Starting Monday March 11th at 8AM Alaska, you’ll have Video Insider access to the site which will run until 8AM Alaska (12:00PM EST) on Wednesday March 13th. The access will begin automatically after 8AM Alaska (12:00PM EST) so all you need to do is login after that time.
It looks like we’ll see the winner cross the Arch on Tuesday, and by the looks of it, it’s going to be close.
So, take advantage of our 48 Hour Pass and see the exciting finish of Iditarod 41.
We hope you enjoy this package as much as we do!

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Weekend Update

Wow!  A lot happened in the race over the weekend.  Were you all watching the current standings?  Everyone has moved around in the positions so much that it is still hard to see who is winning.

As of 7:30 PDT (6:30 AKDT), the top 10 includes:
Mitch Seavey (mile 775)
Jeff King (mile 769)
Aaron Burmeister (mile 769)
Aliy Zirkle (Go Aliy!) (mile 763)
Ray Redington, Jr. (mile 762)
Joar Ulsom Leifseth (rookie) (mile 759)
Jake Berkowitz (mile 747)
Dallas Seavey (mile 743)
DeeDee Jonrow (mile 741)
Sonny Lindner (mile 741)
Martin Buser, the leader through most of this race is currently in 11th place.  (mile 737)

The leaders are out of Shaktoolik and heading to Koyuk.  Koyuk is 827 miles from Anchorage and just 171 miles from Nome, according to the website.

So far only 6 mushers are out of the race:
Ed Stielstra (Campbell Airstrip), Scott Janssen (Rainy Pass), Newton Marshall (Nikoali), David Sawatzky (McGrath), and Michael Superant (Iditarod)have all scratched due to concern for their dogs.  Gerry Willomitzer has been withdrawn by the race marshall because he got separated from one of his teammates and was unable to check in at Shageluk.  At least that had a happy ending, as the missing Montego was found safe and sound and reunited with Gerry.

Our current Red Lantern holder is Cindy Abbot, who is in Shageluk.  I'm so impressed with Cindy.  She suffers from a rare disease called Wegner's Granulomatosis, which is a disorder where the blood vessels become imflamed making it hard for blood to flow.  She had a dust up with her sled early in the race that caused some injuries and was thinking about scratching back in Rohn. I'm glad to see she is pushing through to the end.  Keep your fingers crossed that she can complete the race, which is a long-time dream for her.

The weather is finally cooperating some.  For the first time in this race the temperatures have dropped below 0 F.  Sounds terribly cold to me, but the mushers and dogs like it much better when the temperature is down.

So who is winning, you ask?  Heck if I know.  It seems like I have read as many opinions on this as there are mushers on the trail and everyone has a different answer. I've read that the Kaltag to Unalakleet run is the barometer - win that and you win the race.  I've also heard that the faster of the top 2 to Unalaklee ALWAYS wins, but apparently that is out the window in this race.

In an interview with Dallas Seavey (2012 winner) he says he is not in contention to win because he had some injuries with his experience dogs and had to drop some of them, leaving him with a very young team that has never run a long distance race like this.

 Here's what Danny Seavey has to say in a Facebook post from this morning:

I hope you don't have to go to work today. #iditarod has never been this exciting.

I was born two months after my dad finished his first Iditarod. I've been watching or running these things as long as I can remember. I remember listening to radio updates, or waiting for them in the paper. Later we had to call the Iditarod headquarters (and sometimes checkpoints) for updates, where a group of volunteers worked a crazy phone bank.

Then they upgraded to a fax system, and twice a day we'd get an automatic fax. If they forgot to put your musher on there, or he was a mile outside the checkpoint when it was sent, you had to wait 12 hours for another update. It could be torture.

Eventually we got the standings online, and now GPS updates. We told ourselves that each upgrade would make watching it better, easier, less stressful. Yeah right.

Here we are with an update every 10 minutes, and I still don't know who's winning. There are 6 teams that could still pull it off.

Jeff and Mitch are clearly the favorites, and I've never seen two teams more equally matched. Jeff was faster to Unalakleet, Mitch more than held his own going to Shaktoolik. Mitch is adding an hour rest at every checkpoint. Jeff is gaining on the way to Koyuk.

I really have no idea who's winning. I don't even know who's faster. We're going to be glued to those trackers and updates until tomorrow afternoon. Finally it'll be settled.

They've both ran great races, very smart races. I was very impressed with their ability to ignore Martin, stay on the schedule, and do what was best for their teams. Whoever wins, they've earned it, and I think they will feel they got the most out of their teams. I haven't seen any mistakes, anything they could have done better. We really have (at least) two teams that deserve to win.

May the best man win really doesn't seem fitting. Especially when you realize that 1/10 of a mile an hour running time will likely be the difference between these two when it's said and done.

So go ahead and call in sick tomorrow, it'll be worth it.

Danny

I figure if Danny Seavey doesn't have a clue who will win Sebastian Schnuelle doesn't have a clue, AND Joe Runyan can't figure it out, that I have absolutely no chance in figuring it out either.

Stay tuned!  It should all be over tomorrow, but I'll update as much as I can until then.