Friday, March 09, 2012

On the Iditarod Trail

Musher Jim Lanier claimed the prize at Cripple Checkpoint, arriving at 13:55 AST with his team of 13 dogs. Unfortunately for Lanier, he has yet to take his mandatory 24 hour rest and will/has fallen well behind the race leaders.

Mitch Seavey has taken over the lead pulling into Ruby on the Yukon River this morning at 06:00 AST . Somewhere behind him are Aliy Zirkle, John Baker, Dallas Seavey and Ray Redington, Jr. [UPDATE: I forgot to mention that Seavey gets the gourmet dinner and cash prize for being first into Ruby. As Paul mentions in the comments, Alit Zirkle breezed through Ruby staying just long enough to drop one of her dogs before continuing on. Nine minutes is all it took her.]

Two more mushers have scratched. Ryan Redington withdrew from the race at the Takotna checkpoint citing concern for his dogs. He was down to just 10 in harness at the time. Wade Marrs scratched at the Ophir checkpoint for the same reason. Marrs had just 12 dogs in harness at the time of his withdrawl.

Each musher is permitted to start the race with 16 dogs in harness. It’s not unusual for them to drop dogs along the way due to injury, illness or just plain orneriness. ("Love" might be a reason too. Ask Lance Mackey who is down to 12 dogs.) Many of the teams are still carrying between 13 and 15 dogs but a few still have all 16 in harness. Ray Redington, Jr. (in 5th place), Aaron Burmeister (running 6th), and Michelle Phillips (13th) are all out of Cripple and heading to Ruby with 16 dogs Further back, Rookie Mike Santos (41st) has left Ophir heading to Cripple with a full string as has Art Church, Jr. (55th).

It is unusual for mushers to go with just 10 dogs this early in the race. Like Ryan Redington They are more likely to concede and withdraw…unless there are some extenuating circumstances. Rookie Pat Moon (54th) left Ophir this morning with just 10 dogs, but he started from Willow with just 12 if the charts are to be believed. You have to believe that with his medical history (diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an auto immune disease that targets the intestines and kidneys at age 15) this is a personal challenge and he’s looking to complete the Iditarod, not win it. (By the way, I love his quote: “Although having an illness is physical, being sick is a state of mind.”

2 comments:

Rev. Paul said...

Aliy Zirkle is back in the lead at this hour; I think that's cool.

joated said...

Indeed it is! She's got a lot of fans out there who are hoping she can pull it off. She's been campking out in the bush instead of at the checkpoints where everyone is under the eye of everyone else. That's a move that Lance Mackey pulled off a couple of years ago when he was on his winning streak. Aliy's rushed out to the lead in years past only to be overhauled down the stretch. Maybe this is her year.