March 6, 2008

• Iditarod Day “6″

  Now’s the time, on the fifth day of the race, when the posted standings don’t mean much.  In the update of 9:11 AM today, the top thirteen mushers still have not taken their mandatory 24 hour rests.  They will fall back in the standings as they stop for that rest and are passed by those whose 24s are done.

  The five top leaders now are shown to have been in Cripple checkpoint for about two to three hours, so there’s a good chance that they have begun their 24 hour layovers there. 

  Back in 15th, 16th and 17th positions, Mitch Seavey, Ramey Smyth and Gerald Sousa are obviously well into their 24s at Ophir.  Seavey could be leaving there within the hour with his 24 completed. 

  Thirty-two teams are shown in Takotna now, and many of them can be assumed to be taking their 24s.  Cheeseburgers and pie are only part of the attractions at Takotna.  It is one of the few checkpoints where water is available for the dogs without the musher having to melt ice or snow.  A big cooker is kept full of water for the dogs, and there is indoor sleeping space (on floors, mostly) for the mushers, and places to hang up soggy gear for drying.

  In fourteenth position, Kjetil Backen of Team Norway is the current leader among the ten teams whose 24 hour layovers are completed.  He blew through Ophir just before 7 this morning.  The standings do not show how many dogs he has now. 

  Such lacunae and lapses are par for the course in the official website’s reporting on this year’s race.  The new virtual reality tracking system is very buggy.  At one point, it said that one of the teams was going at an impossible seventy-some miles per hour.   The virtual tracking is being provided as a free service to fans in this its first year.  I’ll go out on a limb with a prediction here:  if they get the bugs out by next year, it will become part of the paid “Insider” services.

  On the trail between Takotna and Ophir, the next three teams who have completed their 24s are Lance Mackey in 18th position with 15 dogs, Jeff King in 19th position with his full starting team of 16, and Jim Lanier in 20th with his full 16.  Lance was 43 minutes behind Backen out of Takotna.  Jeff was 13 minutes behind Lance, and Jim Lanier was almost three hours behind him.

  Hans Gatt in 50th position with 15 dogs, Rick Swenson in 51st with 15, William Kleedehn in 52nd with 14, Gerry Willomitzer in 53rd with 13, and John Baker in 56th with 14 dogs, completed their 24 hour layovers in McGrath.  Gatt, Swenson, Kleedehn and Willomitzer are in Takotna now, and Baker is on the trail between McGrath and Takotna.  William Hanes in 70th position, now in McGrath with 13 dogs, is the only other musher to have completed the mandatory 24 hour rest.

  Rohn Buser, currently the front-running rookie, left Ophir in tenth position about 9 last night.

  A fourth and fifth musher, Cliff Roberson and Jessica Hendricks, have scratched, cutting the field to 91 teams.  Rookie Kim Franklin from the UK is bringing up the rear with the Red Lantern. 

  Snooze180 asked me about the Red Lantern, and I realized that I have neglected to explain it this year.  There is a real red lantern each year.  It’s a trophy awarded to the last finisher.  If my memory is correct, the final team through Safety checkpoint picks up a red lantern there and carries it to Nome.  At the awards banquet, the last finisher is presented with a shiny new red lantern with a little brass plaque engraved with the year and his or her name.  My neighbor Rhodi Carella has one on display in her home.  In previous years, small groups of non-competitive mushers at the back of the pack have found various ways to resolve the issue of who gets to bring up the rear and get the trophy, including poker games, bribery, and coin tosses.

  None of the photos below is my work.  All came from adn.com.

  
  Rookie Trent Herbst by ADN photographer Bob Hallinen
  Herbst is running in 89th position currently.

  
  Kim Franklin’s team by Bob Hallinen

  
  Photo by ADN reader Rick Bellew of unidentified team -
  - look like Karen Ramstead’s dogs to me.

  
  Unidentified musher booting up unidentified dog
  by ADN reader Deborah Mercy

  
  Unidentified dog by ADN reader
  Forrest A. Booker

  • 2:46 pm
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