Race to Ruby

It’s going to be crowded on trail to Ruby tonight as the race leaders change once again during the current “24-hour layover haze” timeframe. Because Seavey and Baker arrived to Cripple early Thursday morning and are taking their 24-hour layover, they won’t be leaving the halfway checkpoint until 2:30am and 4am respectively. Martin Buser arrived next and will depart at 6:15am and Bruce Linton around eight. Those departures should leave plenty of time for the group consisting of King, Neff, Mitch Seavey, Mackey, Schnuelle, and Haltmann (who are separated over a 2.5 hour time span) to get plenty of rest and leave well before Seavey or Baker wake up from their naps. King could be leaving Cripple around 8pm this evening if he follows a similar schedule as he did in his 2006 championship year.

Looking back at the trail times into Cripple from mushers who had completed their 24, King faired the best at 9hr 10min, Mitch Seavey had 9hr 39min, and Mackey/Haltmann both had about 9hrs 50min. King continues to show the strength of his team, boasting some of the fastest times throughout the race.

The 70 mile route from Cripple to Ruby will likely take teams 7 to 10 hours depending on trail conditions. Once there, leading teams usually choose to take another of their mandatory layovers (8 Hour) on the first Yukon River checkpoint, although in a tight race like this year it wouldn’t be too surprising to see someone try something different.