Iditablog.com – Iditarod 2010 News and Coverage

It’s always a sad day when we post the last Iditablog podcast of the season. Greg, Loren and I gathered together on a friday evening to recap the last portion of the race and give our thoughts on Iditarod 2010. In this wrap-up edition we talk about:

• The final 2010 standings
• Hank Debruin forced to scratch
• Awards re-cap
• Records broken all over the place
• and we share YOUR favorite parts of this years race.
• Using our Iditarod community for good

A big thanks to the tens of thousands of you who downloaded the shows this year, we appreciate your support.

Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes | Browse the Podcast Archives

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

2010 was a great year for the Iditarod, so many records were broken and the race was just fun to watch unfold. Here at Iditablog our team is so grateful to all of the fans and followers who listened to our podcasts, read the blog updates, “friended us” on facebook and made this an effort worth making. We’re not quite done yet! UPDATE: Friday, March 26th we’ll be recording a recap podcast that’ll wrap up the race and close out our coverage on this year’s race. We need your help to make this podcast possible, shoot me an email or give us a call and leave us a voicemail and share your favorite parts of the Iditarod this year, your favorite musher, or a favorite story that emerged from the trail, basically we’re looking for your thoughts and memories as we close the book on this year’s race.

On a personal Note:
This year’s race makes the 5th consecutive Iditarod I’ve covered exclusively for this website. I do this because of my love for the sport and because of the incredible feedback from our readers and listeners. As we spend dozens and dozens of hours every March creating this content, I’ve made it a point never to ask you, our followers for anything in exchange…and we’re going to be working to ensure that it stays that way.

But I do have one request.

I’m working towards a goal of raising $2000 help fight extreme global poverty before my birthday next month, and I need all the help I can get. I’m raising these funds in the honor of our new son Jonas who has been born into so much opportunity compared to others in our world. I strongly believe that each of us can work together to end the hunger and poverty that plague 3 billion people around the world who live on less than US$2/day. I’m partnering with an amazing organization, One Day’s Wages who work with select groups on the ground in these areas where poverty is rampant and who have real-world solutions to solving this problem one person at a time.

If you’ve enjoyed the coverage on Iditablog this year, or the last few years; please consider clicking on the link below and reading about the specific project that I’ve identified to raise support for. Let’s use our Iditarod community to change lives.

http://bit.ly/ODW-Josh-Birthday

Thanks again everyone, for all your support

-Josh Rogers
Iditablog.com

On a special edition of the Iditablog Podcast, we bring you the audio from the Musher’s Banquet in Nome.  In the first of two portions, you’ll hear the special awards introduced and presented to each musher as it happened on March 21st. While unfortunately you will miss out on the prime rib dinner that those in Nome enjoyed while they listened to the awards presentations, you will get the benefit of an edited down version which cuts out long waits as presenters go up to the podium!

A BIG thanks to Iditablog.com’s friend Nate who recorded the whole thing for us.  Look for the second portion to be posted in a seperate podcast in the next few days.

ALSO, we’ll be recording our last live podcast of the season on Thursday evening, look for specific times to be posted in the coming days, but we’re taking your voicemails and email questions as we put together our final show of this year’s Iditarod.

To see pictures of the event (click here)
For a complete list of Iditarod 2010 Award Winners (click here)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

ALERT: Audio of the Banquet will be posted on Monday after it gets edited down.. a BIG thanks to Nate for providing us with the coverage at the event.

The 2010 Musher’s Banquet was held Sunday night, March 21st at the Nome Recreation Center.  Packing the place out once again over 800 volunteers, fans and locals alike gathered to hear stories of the trail as all finishing mushers were well into Nome by the time the banquet began, which means there will be no “Red Lantern Banquet” in 2010.  Frugal Nomeites will often skip the long and expensive ceremony and opt for the cheaper and shorter “Red Lantern Banquet” a few days later during years in which there are teams still out on the trail.  The “big show” sunday night gives each dog driver the opportunity to speak to the crowd and tell stories about their journey to Nome.  The highlight of the evening is always the awards portion, achievements earned on the trail are re-presented at this time and there are a handful of honors which are voted upon by different groups before the banquet begins and presented for the first time.  Mushers vote for items such as”Best Checkpoint” and “most helpful Vet on the Trail,” awards are also given for “Fastest time from Safety to Nome” and “Most Improved Musher” among others.  The highest honor of the evening comes in the form of the “Alaska Airlines Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award” and is given to a top twenty team who best demonstrates outstanding dog care while remaing competitive.

Big News from the event includes Lance Mackey saying he might skip the 2011 Iditarod in order to compete in another, international race.  Mackey also declared that Jeff King wouldn’t be staying in retirement, saying that King would be the “Brett Favre of mushers.”  We have more fun highlights the evening and will share them with you as the audio is posted in the next few days.

Congratulations again to Lance on his fourth consecutive Iditarod victory, congratulations also to all those who walked away with a special recognition this year, and to all those who made it to Nome – it’s an amazing feat.

To see pictures of the event (click here)
To hear audio from the 2010 Banquet (click here)

List of 2010 Iditarod Awards and recipients.

Special Iditarod Awards in Order of Presentation along the Trail

McGrath Checkpoint

PenAir Spirit of Alaska Award – Won by Jeff King

• Original “Spirit Mask” presented to the first musher into McGrath
• $500 PenAir credit towards travel or freight shipments also awarded

Read more…

Pictures of Lance Mackey’s win, and Jeff King’s arrival to Nome.

Thanks to KICY’s Nate Hobbs for the great shots

Have photos from Nome you’d like to contribute?  email Josh

In this edition of the Iditablog podcast we bring you an archive version of our live broadcast as Lance Mackey won his fourth consecutive Iditarod. The hour long show includes “pre-game” coverage as Lance approaches the finish-line. We then go over to KICY’s broadcast high above front street to hear Lance’s victory as it happens.

Big thanks to:

• The 2,091 of you who joined us for the broadcast
• Dennis, Lon, Nate & Nate with KICY for the great commentary
• The BSSD webcam in Nome

It was a blast – thanks for being a part of the show.

To hear more of the 2010 top mushers arrive to Nome (click here)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

He does the impossible every year, and this year Lance Mackey won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Iditarod victory. Mackey crossed the Burled Arch finish line in Nome at 2:59pm (Alaska Time) for a total of 8 Days, 23 Hours, 59 Minutes and 9 Seconds.

We’ll have the broadcast archive of our live coverage posted within the hour. Hans Gatt JUST arrived in Nome in second place, Jeff is should be arriving soon.