Oh, its on now!
12. Mar, 2009 
7 Comments
Whew, our 24-hour layover time is complete for the top ten mushers and the race is on to the checkpoint of Iditarod. Race pundits were saying yesterday that they expected to see three mushers emerge after the layovers were completed and that some mushers might start to loose ground. Specifically it was speculated that Hugh Neff & Sebastian Schnuelle might not be able to hold back Jeff King and Lance Mackey, but Aaron Burmeister had the rest and the right dog team to compete and hold his own….. lets see where we are now.
Burmeister was first of out Takotna and first into Ophir just three hours later. But look at these run times & speeds for those in so far -
Between Takotna & Ophir:
| Name |
Current Position
|
Enroute Time
|
Speed
|
Dogs
|
| Lance Mackey |
3
|
2h 38m
|
9.49
|
16
|
| Jeff King |
6
|
2h 43m
|
9.20
|
15
|
| Paul Gebhardt |
8
|
2h 44m
|
9.15
|
13 (now 12)
|
| Mitch Seavey |
7
|
2h 46m
|
9.04
|
14
|
| Ken Anderson |
5
|
2h 54m
|
8.62
|
12
|
| Aaron Burmeister |
1
|
3h 1m
|
8.29
|
13
|
| Sebastian Schnuelle |
4
|
3h 8m
|
7.98
|
15
|
| Hugh Neff |
2
|
3h 9m
|
7.94
|
14
|
The *CURRENT* GPS positions going into Iditarod have Burmeister staying in 1st by a few miles, however Lance Mackey has advanced into 2nd place going quite a bit faster than both Burmesiter, and Neff who is just a under a mile behind the reigning champion. Schnuelle is a few miles behind still in fourth place and Jeff King passed Ken Anderson to move into 5th.
The one really noticeable difference between these competitors after watching the GPS tracking this morning is that Mackey is moving quite a bit faster than everyone else. He’s clocked in at 10mph sometimes, with everyone else previously mentioned clocked at 6-7mph – obviously these might not be totally acurate, but its a pretty big difference.
Out of the top ten there are some big moves being made, that could change what the top positions look like in a day or two – Ed Iten came out of his 24-hour layover at a BLAZING 11.87mph between McGrath & Takotna, we’ll see how he compares going into Ophir. Aaron Peck continues to impress after being the very first musher to take his 24-hour layover all the way back in Nikolai, he’s into Ophir at 7.85mph which is close to how fast Neff & Schnuelle did that stretch.
I’m still dying to know what happened to Martin Buser – resting 6 hours in McGrath before pushing onto Ophir where it now appears he is taking his 24… was it the trail conditions that kept him from going further, or is he planning on a very well rested team that doesn’t have to break trail? There are still lots of voices saying its all going to come down to patience in this weather & trail conditions, and thats what Martin is good at… We’ll have to wait and see!
Finally, some bad news coming out of Takotna this morning – former top ten contender Bjornar Andersen decided to scratch after being injured in a crash between the Rohn & Nikolai checkpoints. He traveled another nearly 70 miles to Takotna where he decided to scratch from the race. His injuries appear to be internal, but the extent isn’t currently known. Race officials said he will be taken to Anchorage for medical assessment. Kevin Klott with Anchorage Daily News was in Takotna and has a few more details (click here).
Go Aaron Go…..We are all watching and cheering for our hometown boy. Thanks for once again mentioning Aaron Peck. We certainly think he is doing great.
I have to admit, I’d sort of love to see a cunning come-from-behind Martin Buser victory.
Just want to say “Thanks” for the great race coverage. This is the first year I have paid much attention – what an amazing competition. Yoshida lives just outside my home town so we were excited to see her run and wish her the best in finding her dog and realizing all that she (and all the mushers) has/have accomplished.
Is there an advantage to having more dogs in the race (I’d assume so).
I’m showing Lance Mackey with 16 dogs out and all the rest competitors have 15, 14 or even 13 dogs.
Thanks!
Thank you so much for this, it is just fantastic! Really the best use of twitter, I think. Is there any hope for my girl, DeeDee?
We are trying to follow you, I mentioned you in my post on this subject so did Sarah Palin 2012.
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/03/iditarod-7-march-2009-race-begins.html
Sarah Palin 2012 blogspot
http://sarah-palin-2012.blogspot.com/2009/03/update-iditarod-rookie-racer-crashes-in.html
http://sarah-palin-2012.blogspot.com/2009/03/iditarod-commemorates-life-saving.html