Iditarod Trail Race Day 4 Update

Harsh conditions as teams fall out of the race.

We had snow last night and today with windy conditions in Anchorage but nothing like on the trail. Here is an update of Day 3 & 4 of Iditarod XXXV.

After the teams set off from the town of Willow on Sunday for the 1,100 mile Iditarod 35 they have found pretty harsh conditions soon after the restart. This was an abrupt change on the trail from Willow where adoring fans set up barbecues along the start line on top of a frozen lake. No longer the ‘party atmosphere’ the mushers will be alone in land unreachable by road.






Photo by Bob Hallinen Anchorage Daily News

Over the next nine to twenty or some odd days, the mushers will traverse varied terrain while passing through just 20 checkpoints along the way to Nome, three of which are uninhabited the rest of the year and most of which have less than a few dozen residents.

The second and third day has seen thirteen teams fall by the wayside scratching from the race due to either injury or weather. Two big name favorites both had spills off their sled over icefalls and ended up with broken bones. Musher Doug Swingley, (Bib #28) made the decision to scratch at 12:36 on March 05, 2007 at the Rainy Pass Checkpoint on Puntilla Lake in the Alaska Range. The four-time Iditarod Champion from Lincoln Montana scratched due to injuries he incurred between Finger Lake and Rainy Pass. According to officials at the checkpoint Swingley may have suffered broken ribs. They said he also dislocated one of his thumbs. After careful consideration, Swingley said his greatest concern was whether he would be physically able to care for his team for the duration of the race.

Musher Dee Dee Jonrowe, (Bib #27) also made the decision to scratch at 6 pm on March 05, 2007 at Rainy Pass Checkpoint. The Willow musher, who was running her 25th Iditarod, scratched due to injuries she incurred after taking a fall just a few miles before she reached the Rainy Pass Checkpoint. According to officials at the checkpoint Jonrowe broke her little finger and may have incurred more damage to her hand. After careful consideration, she decided that it was best to scratch.

The blizzard conditions at Rainy Pass with wind chills of -35 below zero had teams hunkered down waiting for conditions to improve. Several teams had either loss their way or had to turn around and go back to the last checkpoint to wait out the storm. In all 13 teams have scratched now as the remaining teams continue towards Nome.

Winning teams will run about 130 miles (220 kilometers) a day, mushing well into the night by the light of the moon, stars and a head lamp. They will race through blinding snow storms, thick forests and across frozen rivers where temperatures are routinely around 40 below and the wind can whip it down to a bone-chilling minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit. "All the way to Nome!" is a common cheer along the trail. While about twenty of the teams are in it to win, the rest are just hoping to finish.

The leaders in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race were charging through minus 10 degree cold toward the halfway point in the ghost town of Iditarod on Wednesday as some of the key contenders in “The Last Great Race” appeared to be settling in for their mandatory 24-hour breaks. Every team in the race is required to take one of these, and where and when it is taken often plays a key role in determining who wins.






Nikolai Checkpoint



Photo by Al Grillo Associated Press


Stay tuned for further updates after the teams take their 24 hour rest break. The strategy of this race is starting to play out over the next 36 hours as the teams make the decision of when to stop along the trail.

Ice

Standings

Rank

Musher (bib)

1

Lance Mackey (13)

2

Paul Gebhardt (10)

3

Mitch Seavey (20)

4

Ed Iten (30)

5

Cim Smyth (4)

6

Tollef Monson (75)

7

Zack Steer (7)

8

Jeff King (31)

9

Martin Buser (19)

10

Jim Lanier (9)

Interactive Map with trail checkpoints, standings, elevations, and weather may be found here:

http://www.iditarod.com/flashmap/

Video of Dog Team moving through blizzard shot from helicopter.

http://www.iditarod.com/flashmap/free/video_296F24AF-3FFF-1FD7-B2AE0A9E2190D815.html

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