Be watching for big moves

Heading into McGrath today the big question is what type of moves we’ll see from mushers who have been a few hours behind the race leaders thus far.  It’s not a surprise that Jeff King or John Baker haven’t been leading the race so far, both of them usually set a slower pace in the beginning and then kick it into a higher gear around the halfway point.  With King arriving into Nikolai just an hour behind Sebastian Schnuelle who got there first, he might be starting to find his pace.  Schnuelle is on his toes right now, he’s was also first into Nikolai in 2009 but lost the lead for good on the trail to McGrath. Mackey hasn’t been leading the early parts of the race quite as much as he has in the past, with his 2007 inaugural victory Mackey rarely gave up the leader position after arriving first into Finger Lake. Last year the defending champion led the way into Rainy Pass, although did not hold his position for long until after leaving Ophir.

Pretty soon teams will begin to think about the strategic decision of their 24-hour layover.  While at just two full days into the race it might seem a bit early but with a fairly fast (however snowy) trail, for the mushers deciding to take your mandatory rest can be a fine line between waiting too long, and calling it too early.