March 12, 2008
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Competition Is Getting Serious Now
Lance Mackey checked out of White Mountain at 4:53 PM today with the same eleven dogs he had when he got there.
Jeff King dropped two dogs in White Mountain and checked out at 5:50 PM with fourteen. I assume that the two he dropped are the same two he said were “tired” a day or two ago. Tired dogs had to be slowing him down some, so his dropping them now means he is getting serious about catching up and passing Lance.
Jeff’s tracker must be malfunctioning, because the data on him is tagged, “estimated.” If the data is correct (and it has been from mildly to wildly inaccurate throughout the race), Lance is about 14 miles from Safety, the last checkpoint, traveling at 6 MPH. Jeff is estimated to be 8 miles behind him doing 7 MPH. What’s really going on out there is anybody’s guess.
Safety is 22 miles from the finish in Nome. Two hours or so into Safety, maybe three hours from there to Nome, unless somebody’s dogs have some terrific energy reserves for a sprint to the finish. If I can stay awake long enough, I intend to stay up here, checking the standings and watching the Nomecam refresh every minute until I see a team of dogs under that burled arch on Front Street… IF I can stay awake that long.
The field is now down to 82 teams. Steven Madsen scratched in Galena, leaving the Red Lantern up for grabs. Right now, it looks like either Liz Parrish or Deborah Bicknell. Both of them are in Nulato, and the four mushers closest to them on the trail left Nulato between 7:15 and 7:30 this evening.
