March 10, 2008
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Iditarod Day “10″
In Unalakleet yesterday evening, Lance Mackey arrived an hour and a half behind Jeff King, dropped two dogs, taking his team down to 12, rested two and three quarters hours, and left at 6:17, regaining the lead from Jeff, who left Unalakleet at one minute past seven.
“This is exactly the scenario from last year,” Mackey said in Unalakleet. “We all know how that story ends.“I’ve got to keep him guessing. It’s hard to outrun a team of that caliber. So if it comes down to a foot race, I’m lazy. But come and get me.”
Lance’s team got into Shaktoolik at 1:14 AM today, followed thirteen minutes later by Jeff and his team. Jeff says that two of his dogs are tired, but for now the entire sixteen he started with are remaining in harness. Lance left Shaktoolik just before 6 AM today, with Jeff 39 minutes behind him.
Lance said his dogs perked up as soon as they “sniffed the cooler air on the coast.” They had been turning up their noses at food in the warm days of the early part of the race, and now their appetites are healthy, and they are barking and eager to run.
Now on the ice of Norton Sound, 23 miles short of the Koyuk checkpoint, the tracker (buggy and somewhat unreliable) is showing Lance ahead of Jeff by about two miles, with the speeds for both teams varying between about 6 and 9 MPH. The winner is expected to reach Nome sometime Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
Farther back in the pack, mushers are adjusting to the idea that their chances of coming in first are slim to none, and they are tweaking their strategies to get ahead of their near competitors to finish as high as they can. The tracker shows Mitch Seavey 20 miles behind Jeff King, with Kjetil Backen a mile behind him. The standings out of Unalakleet are:
3. Hans Gatt (out of the checkpoint at 2:27 AM)
4. Paul Gebhardt
5. Kjetil Backen
6. Mitch Seavey
7. Martin Buser
8. Rick Swenson
9. Ken Anderson
10. Ed Iten
11. Jim Lanier (at 67, the oldest musher in this year’s race)
12. Jessie Royer
13. Aaron Burmeister
14. Sebastian Schnuelle
15. Zack Steer
16. John Baker
17. DeeDee Jonrowe
18. Ramey Smyth
19. Gerry Willomitzer (out of Unalakleet at 8:12 AM)Martin Buser, now in seventh position with 13 dogs after dropping one in Unalakleet, seems to be feeling some pressure from his son: “Impossible first doesn’t mean I have to wait around for Rohn to get here,” he said on APRN.
He probably doesn’t need to worry about that. Rohn dropped a dog in Kaltag last night, leaving there just after midnight in 33rd position with 8 dogs. He is now third among the rookies. William Kleedehn also dropped a dog in Kaltag, down to eleven in 28th position. Melissa Owens, youngest woman to ever run the Iditarod, is now leading the rookies, out of Kaltag with ten dogs, in 27th position, sixteen minutes ahead of Kleedehn.
At the back of the pack, two more rookies have scratched: Rodney Whaley in Cripple, and Darin Nelson in Galena. Veteran musher Art Church, Jr. scratched in Ruby, and Peter Bartlett scratched in Nulato. This brings the field down to 83 teams. Currently in last position is Steven Madsen out of Cripple with eleven dogs, about two and a half hours behind Trent Herbst with 15.
Jeff King’s team in Nulato Hills, headed toward Unalakleet Sunday
photo by Bob Hallinen of Anchorage Daily News
Lance Mackey attending his dogs in Unalalkleet Sunday
by Bob Hallinen of ADN
Mackey leaving Unalakleet Sunday
photo by Al Grillo, AP
