March 15, 2005

• The race is almost won.

  Norwegian
  Robert Sorlie checked into White Mountain at 12:59 PM AKST.  All mushers have a mandatory 8 hour rest there.

  Here’s how Don Bowers’s trail description for the stretch from White Mountain to Safety begins:

  “This can be one of the most dangerous stretches on the race when the
  wind blows or a storm hits. It can make or break champions, not to
  mention back-of-the-packers. Mushers have nearly died within what
  would normally be a few hours’ easy running to Nome. In reasonable
  weather, this is a pleasant five- to eight-hour run; in the worst
  conditions, it can be impassable.”

  Sorlie’s closest competition, five mushers, left Elim three to
  four-and-a-half hours behind him.  They are:  John Baker,
  Mitch Seavey, Ed Iten, Ramy Brooks, and Bjornar Andersen.

  The NomeCam isn’t showing any sunshine now (I’m writing this at almost
  3 PM), but it doesn’t look stormy, either — just gloomy, cloudy. 
  I watched the guys put up the fence on Front Street yesterday. 
  Nome is ready.  If you care to watch the finish tonight [It will be early morning across the Lower 48], seven to
  ten hours after Sorlie leaves White Mountain, just keep refreshing this
  page or go to http://nomecam.iditarod.com/netcam/nomecam.jpg.

  

  Maggie_mcfrenzie was speculating on the cascade effect that dropped
  dogs could have on a team.  Actually, it can go either way. 
  Dropping weak dogs that have been slowing the team down can raise their
  speed and improve their times.  But it is often the strong pullers
  who wear themselves out and have to be dropped.  In that case,
  their loss slows the team.

  The stats don’t tell us why dogs are being dropped, but sometimes we
  get verbal reports from checkpoints that explain.  The worst case
  is illness, a sick team.  The best case is some strategic
  selection near the end of the race when the driver is paring the team
  down to the fastest, healthiest, most vigorous members for a fast
  finish.

  Right now six women are running in the money, in the first thirty
  places.  If Harmony Barron can pass her husband or her
  father-in-law without losing place to anyone coming from behind, she
  will make it seven.  GO GIRLS!

  I will keep checking iditarod.com, APRN, and my email box for updates
  from Roxy.  Then I’ll probably sit up half the
  night with the radio on, watching the webcam.

  Prize money ranges
  from 72,066.67 for first place, to $1,880.00 for 30th. The rest of the
  finishers share a purse of $45,107.00. If everyone still on the trail
  finishes, that will be 1,252.97 for each of them.

  
  Update at 3:30 — Ed Iten and Mitch Seavey both pulled into White Mountain just before 3 PM.

  5:00 – Leaders are still in
  White Mountain.  Into Elim,  Dee Dee Jonrowe is in 8th place,
  Jessie Royer in 12th, and Aliy Zirkle in 13th.

  7:00 – Six mushers are now in
  White Mountain:  Robert Sorley, Ed Iten, Mitch Seavey, Ramy
  Brooks, John Baker, and Bjornar Andersen.  It’s snowing in Nome,
  temperature in the teens Fahrenheit.

  9:00 – No changes indicated at
  the front, same six leaders in White Mountain. 
  Strange goings on at the back of the pack:  Ellering and Scdoris
  have spent 12 hours in Grayling so far.  Sandy McKee checked in
  there about 3:30 this afternoon.  Could Rachael want that Red
  Lantern Award so much she’ll wait for Sandy to mush on before she
  follows, or what?  Any speculation, gang?

  9:30 – A reader reminded me of
  the mandatory 8 hour layover in White Mountain, and I’ve edited my copy
  above to reflect that information.  Sorlie left there at 8:59,
  exactly 8 hours after he checked in.  He could reach Nome sometime
  around 4 AM our time, give or take a bit.  Paul Gebhardt checked
  into White Mountain at 8:27 PM, and Lance Mackey at 9:17.

  11:00 – Sandy McKee, who had
  been in last place, scratched at Grayling.  After an 11 hour rest,
  Rachael Scdoris pulled out of there ahead of her seeing-eye musher Paul
  Ellering, once again proving that she doesn’t really need
  him.   Dee Dee Jonrowe, the leading woman in this race, could
  be checking into White Mountain any time now, or could already be there
  – the standings on the website don’t update instantly.

  1:00 — The first six mushers
  are out of White Mountain.  Paul Gebhardt, Lance Mackey, Jessie
  Royer, Jeff King, Dee Dee Jonrowe, Martin Buser, Aliy Zirkle, and Doug
  Swingley checked into White Mountain between 8:27 and 11:48.  This
  puts the first three women in ninth, eleventh and thirteenth
  places.  Jessica Hendricks is out of Elim in sixteenth, Melanie
  Gould is out of Koyuk in 24th, and Harmony Barron is still running
  behind her husband and father-in-law in 31st place.

  My dilemma is this:  I
  probably can’t stay awake until 4 AM and once I get to sleep I won’t
  want to get up that early.  Ah, well….  It’s only a game
  and I’m not in it.  I don’t even have any wagers riding on it.

  • 7:11 pm
  • 8 Comments