Iditablog.com – Iditarod 2010 News and Coverage

Banquet 02 – Auction of Trail Mail (New and Old)

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With 47 mushers in, and 12 still out on the trail, I’m almost tempted to say that things have slowed down here in Nome but that isn’t the case.  Even though mushers aren’t arriving in groups of 6 or 7 an hour anymore, it doesn’t mean that things have gone back to normal for this small boom town.  Nome knows that it will almost double in size with all of the Iditarod visitors during this week, and it takes care of it’s guests.  Even though there isn’t nearly enough hotel room to accommodate everyone that comes into town, especially when you account for all the mushers and their families, the citizens of Nome step up to the plate and rent out rooms, beds, and couch space to those who come from thousands of miles away to see the finish of the last great race.  Events like the Businessman’s Sled Dog race, sponsored by the Nome Kennel Club or the Bering Sea Ice golf classic are both Iditarod staples, however there are dozens of other activities for a interested Iditarod volunteer, or tourist to participate in.  There are tons of educational events for someone interested in learning more about Nome or the surrounding region.  The Carrie M.McLain Museum hosts daily lectures by long time Nome resident, and early Iditarod organizer Howard Farley. The National Park service hosts presentations on Nome Mushing history, local hotsprings , living off of the tundra, and other regional interests.  For the cultured visitor, a visit to the Art Exhibition or fine arts show might be appropriate.  Bar hoppers can choose between events like the dart tournament, Idita-marti Gras , the Arm Wrestling contests, or even the tattoo contest.  The University of Fairbanks, Northwest Campus will open it’s ceramics studio to those tourists who want to have a hands on experience with the souvenir that they take back home, or you can learn how to make a western Alaska staple, the beaver hat at the fur hat workshop.  But the Iditarod mushers aren’t the only thing drawing people into Nome for the third week in March; during Iditarod Nome also hosts the annual Lonnie O’Connor Iditarod Basketball Tournament.  Local Nome rec teams, along with village teams compete in this tournament which over the course of a week will probably see more people in the crowd than the finish of a winning Iditarod musher.  Most tourists fly into Nome via Alaska Airlines to participate in Iditarod activities, but the local charter airlines are running in full swing bringing men’s & women’s basketball teams from Bethel, Unalakleet, Elim, and all over western Alaska for this basketball classic.

Things will start to wind down on Sunday afternoon with the Iditarod Awards Banquet where the prize money is handed out, after that there will just a handful of mushers left out on the trail…but don’t worry, they get their own Banquet once the red lantern comes in.

I’d bet that Rick Swenson would love to have had that headline appear in the papers back in 1978 when he came in second place to Dick Mackey by just a brief moment in what is the most dramatic finish in Iditarod history. For the five time champion this year things are different; Rick hasn’t seen the top 10 since 2004, or won the race since 1991. He joked at the Musher’s Banquet in Anchorage that he was hoping to make this year his sixth victory, even losing a significant amount of weight before the race by going on Atkins. Rick wasn’t able to do as well as he hoped, coming in 26th place…but how he got that position is a fun story. He arrived under the Burled Arch just 1 second in front of rookie Silvia Willis. In what was to spectators very reminiscent of that Swenson/Mackey race up front street in 1978, Rick and Silvia started the battle out on the sea ice in front of Nome. Rick left Safety 20 minutes before Willis and she kept gaining on him during the last few miles into town. They were running as fast as they could all the way in the chute and Rick got luck this time and kept his lead.

As of Noon Thursday we have almost 30 mushers in, but there are still about 30 still left on the trail.

Our top twenty consisted of the usual suspects, the Smyth brothers Ramey and Cim, Hugh Neff, Hans Gatt, Aaron Burmeister, and Jessie Royer coming in 22nd.  Jason Barron came in 14th, he was definitely hoping to better this year, describing last year’s eighth place finish as a “competitive camping trip”.  Jason’s dad John Barron has ran Iditarod 26 times, never with a win.  Rookie of the year contender Sigrid Ekran got into Nome in 21st position.

Sorlie arrives.

Robert Sorlie may have come in this year in 12th place, but like any true Iditarod Champion, he is always looking forward to next time.  Sorlie has the best record out of any other Iditarod musher this decade, he finished 9th his rookie year in 2002 and he won the race the next year, and won again next time he won in 2005.  Coming into the race I knew the field was competitive, but I almost expected Sorlie to win, thats what he does.  Maybe it was the trail, maybe it was the puppy team, or maybe it just wasn’t Robert’s year.  Coming in looking tired, and a man of few words Sorlie told the media that he was happy to be in Nome.  Sorlie is part of a three person team from Norway which also includes Kjetil Backen, and Sorlie’s nephew Bjornar Andersen, however Robert is the musher who runs Iditarod most often and has the best record.  Backen came close to winning in 2004, a year that Sorlie took off, however after the death of a dog just outside Unalakleet Kjetil lost his lead, but still managed to finish in 3rd place.  Bjornar ran as a rookie in 2005 and was rookie of the year after his 4th place finish, in 2006 he was the sole representation for team Norway, and finished in a strong 6th place.  You can hear an archive of Sorlie’s live finish at the bottom of this post.

Ramy Brooks Dog Death

Checking into Saftey is usually just a formality, mushers pick up their bib here and get ready for the final 2 or 3 hour trip into Nome. But this year for Ramy Brooks was different. On the trail from White Mountain one of Brook’s dogs died.  When he got to Safety and told the officials, everyone agreed he should take the dog into Nome with him to the trail committee could do a full investigation.  I went out to Cape Nome on snowmachine and saw Ramy come in, he did look tired but there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about his run.  We went down to the finish line to announce his arrival and for the first few minutes things went as usual. Ramy arrived, hugged friends and family, fed his dogs and answered a few questions from the media.  But then he was quickly rushed out of the chute and what normally is about 15 minutes of hugs, media questions, and official checking in, was only 5-7 minutes and Ramy never signed in.  After Brooks left the chute Race Marshall Mark Nordman told the media that Brooks had a dog die along the way and wouldn’t be checked in until the cause of death could be determined.  Nominally, if that had happened at a checkpoint the musher would be held there until they were released.  Ramey went from a 11th place finish to a 15th.   Brooks comes from another historic mushing family and has been behind a sled pretty much his entire life.  Even at 15th this year is quite an improvement from Ramy’s worst finish ever last year when he came in 31st.  He finished second in 2002 and 2003, and has finished in the top ten four other times since he started running the Iditarod in 1994.  Brooks is one of those guys who will win someday, he has great skill and a strong team, he is just waiting for the year when everything will go right.

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above: Tollef Monson arrives as the last member of this year’s top ten 

Lance Mackey claiming his first Iditarod championship last night doesn’t put an end to this year’s epic race.  So often in the media news outlets will say that “The Iditarod Ended” when the first place musher arrives into Nome.  Anyone familiar with the race would know how incorrect that statement is.  The goal for 70% of those mushers isn’t to finish first, its to complete the race, finish with a strong & healthy team, and to place as high as possible.  After Lance arrived this year, there were still 59 other mushers waiting for the moment when they can pass under the burled arch in Nome.

Lance, really did change the face of the Iditarod with a win this year.  He proved that it a musher could not only be a fierce competitor in both the Yukon Quest & the Iditarod in the same year, but you could win both as well. He also brought a new era of Iditarod Champions into the race, and he proved that the race doesn’t belong to long time veterans like Jeff King, MartinBuser, Doug Swingley, or even Mitch Seavey.  All of these mushers have run the race for years and many thought that they owned the race.  Mackey is just one of a handful of contestants who have entered the Iditarod arena for the 5th or 6th time, each time showing the strength of their team.  This year’s 3rd place finisher 33 year old Zach Steer represents that same new school way of thinking.  Zach, in his 3rd Iditarod finish ever beat out two 4-time Iditarod champions, a 5 time champion, a two time Norwegian champion and dozens of other extremely talented teams.

Paul Gebhardt arrived into Nome two and a half hours after Lance at 10:28pm, Steer came in next at 3:46am, Buser at 4:07am, and Jeff King arrived at 6:07am. Ed Iten, Ken Anderson, John Baker, Mitch Seavey, and Tollef Monson round out the top 10.

This really was one of the more competitive and surprising Iditarods in history, and it will be exciting to hear all the stories at the Musher’s Banquet on Sunday.  I’ll be in Nome until then and will keep heading down to the finish line chute to talk to mushers as they arrive. I also hope to give you a taste of Nome in some videos and articles over the next few days!

AND on that note, I hope to do a few more podcasts now that I’m done traveling, and plan on recording one tomorrow afternoon.  I need you to call our toll free number (866-731-6332) with your thoughts and reactions on Lance’s victory, the top ten, and the mushers still out there.  All calls used in our podcast will be entered to win a Nome/Iditarod prize pack……and amoung other things will include a Lance Mackey 2007 championship dog bootie from Unalakleet!

the entire hour long broadcast (click here – 38mb)

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3:15am AKT

Steer & Buser are fighting for 3rd place – Live on KICY in under 20 minutes! I’m headed down to Front street for the broadcast!

update – 4:45am: Steer arrived at 3:46am, Martin at 4:07am Audio of the arrival to be added in the morning! – Next up: Jeff King around 6:00.

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