• what’s ahead for Iditablog this season
• recap the last few months of Iditarod news
• look at the field of contenders for Iditarod 2010

We’ll be doing a few more preview podcasts leading up to Iditarod 2010.  We’ll also be posting some thoughts in the next few days on the Yukon Quest which is currently underway.  We need your questions and comments, email us here, or call the Podcast Voicemail line at (253)778-MUSH.

Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes | Browse the Podcast Archives

more to come, soon…

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

We lost a precious family member during the dog race and will post new updates soon.

crazy dog kennels

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

Zoya had a successful 109 mile Gin Gin race with 10 happy and healthy dogs on the line once at the halfway point-Maclaren River Lodge. Bongo, Bridle and Fender leading the way. The trail & weather had a little bit of everything to offer. Ice, overflow, soft snow, ice bridges, fog and chillier temps near Maclaren. She came in after a 13 hr run holding 3rd in the women’s division. Sadly, it ended there for her and the team. The team is healthy and happy. Zoya has been experiencing severe abdominal pain for the past 11 months and is now home resting until her doctor appointment tomorrow. Will keep you posted……..

crazy dog kennels

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

..and the Holiday celebration continues! Between Christmas & the New Year we have THE GIN GIN 200 sled dog race! This year we were forced to change the route due to the lack of snow on sections of the Denali Highway. We waited as long as we could in hopes for more snow cover on those long sections of bare pavement. Snow we got! Mixed with extremely high winds…wiping out any hope for a race on the Denali Highway in December. John and I took two 10 dog teams up the highway about one week ago and turned around at 7 mile on the bare pavement…it wasn’t pretty!

We’re bummed to have to move it from our local community however with the new route change we will see a safe trail with plenty of snow for teams to travel. John & trail help, Darrin Lee have been over the new route breaking and staking the race trail. Alan from Maclaren River Lodge is headed down river today to check out the canyon. Part of our trail crew will be coming in from the Paxson end tomorrow and trail breakers for the race will leave from Wolverine Lodge before race start on 28th Dec., 11am. Our race vet this year is Nina Hansen from Fairbanks- she is returning from our Taiga 300 sled dog race last spring. We had such good feedback from the mushers after that race and we’re excited to have her back! John is race Marchall this year and will be stationed in Paxson the night of the 28th -making a run to Maclaren Lodge late that evening to oversee teams arriving & taking care for dropped dogs coming back to Paxson/Wolverine. John will post race notes as he can on here, gingin.com blog and our facebook page.

The weather has been warm…20’s. The weather man says it’s supposed to clear off and cool down for Monday/Tuesday. I sure hope so. Dogs run better when it’s colder. Id like to see -10 to -25….that’s a good running temperatures. On the river you can usually expect colder temps anyhow.

It’s been a whirlwind of fun at the Crazy Dog Kennel family home! We wear several hats juggling many jobs, duties and activities on a daily basis. This will be my first race since running Iditarod 2008. It doesn’t feel like that long ago. I guess it’s because I’ve been on the dogs daily and that “year off” wasn’t really a “year off”….I did a lot of watching and learning.

I feel more excited than nervous right now. I’m looking at this race as an opportunity to evaluate the dogs. All the races we do are preliminaries for the big event in March. It’s my goal to put together the best team possible for Iditarod 2010. It’s been hard picking dogs for this race–I’m having to split up some very good dogs in order to make a few teams for the Gin Gin and CB300 races. We’re going to have a ton of fun this coming Monday and Tuesday –I sure love running dogs and being out there on the trail. These dogs love to go …ZIP..zip zooM! And I’ve been down the trail with the majority of them for the past several years. We’ve done a lot together. Bridle, Dude, Bongo, Mambo and Galen all ran Iditarod 08. It’s like hanging out with some of your best friends-the friends you know you’ll have a blast with, the ones that make you laugh!! This will be Jericho, Fender and Obie’s 1st race!

My Gin Gin 200 team picks:

Bongo, Bridle, Naknek, Galen, Fender, Jericho, Obie, Dude, Storey and Mambo.

Jericho is a rescued dog from the Fairbanks Animal Shelter; we picked him up last April before he was just about to be put down. He was there the longest and his time was up. We took one look at him and went….Whoa! He’s a nice dog! Jericho is such a great boy with lots of personality, drive and enthusiasm! Jericho is a bird dog and seems to set a nice pace from the swing position.

Fender is Storey’s daughter; she’s just over a year old-a very driven and talented little female. She leads well-smooth and steady. Obie is just over 2 years old and raised his paw for the team pick. The mass start will be something to see-we haven’t had one of them since the Gin Gin was a 120 womens race. We had one mass start back on Meier’s Lake and one on Pason Lake.

Thanks to everyone..my Grandma Shirley for being the coolest Grandma ever and here for us and Jona… thanks to all my friends, family, sponsors, kennel fans and the best handlers ever—-John & Ania–making all this possible with fun, love, laughter and smoothness…..I’ve learned over the years so much and I think being Ready, being Prepared and being Organized is key to making ALL this go like clockwork. The team says thank you, bark bark, woof woof!
Thanks everyone!

Wish us luck & we’ll see you down the trail…..

Cheers!

Z

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

love John, Zoya, Jona, Maudie, Ethan & Kennel!

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

old man Sport living happily- indoors! This winter!

Sport and his cabin

lead dog Sebe sharing room with Storey

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

…..come and rub my belly, won’t you?

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

We almost blew away! I never thought I would say it. Hellacious winds 35-40 mph.

I did everything I could to hold on. The wind was unforgiving pushing us around and the snow crystals seemed sharp like daggers in my eyes, my nose and little by little…making their way down my back from my parka opening. With one free hand, I would cover my eyes two or three times thawing my eye lashes that were nearly freezing my eyes closed. I couldn’t see with my headlamp on and without it on, I couldn’t tell if we were moving right or not. I could see my wheel dogs and the other 10, were somewhere in front of them…snow covered their backs. We hit some water and that brought us to a dead stop. I had to break the ice free from my runners and pad with my axe as it quickly wanted to clump up and take over. The wind was so loud I couldn’t hear myself think. I couldn’t see, I could barely hear and my heart was racing. We had no sign of a trail. For a minute, I felt afraid. The wind whipped and swirled around my body from head to toe.

This wind was the kind of wind that can take your breath away. And not in a good way!!!

The run to Mud Lake in Paxson and back was one wicked run last night. I left in the dark with a scratch of a trail that we had just put in by snow machine earlier in the day while fetching mail and Christmas trees. It was 8F when we left and within 50 minutes, the temp had dropped to -12. The trail was nothing more than a dent in the snow. The snow has been dumping down for 2 days and the wind was bound to come. Little did I know as I departed for a quick 20 mile run that we would be running around Paxson Lake on the return leg breaking trail in snow as deep as a dogs chest in some of the worst conditions I have ever seen.

The dogs were iced up. My leaders listened as I gee and hawed them back and forth through the deep snow. We followed the shoreline and once we hit a section of glare ice, I knew where we were-we weren’t far from home now. This section is always bare from the wind and it’s near the bank about 4 miles from the kennel. Normally, from the trail you wouldn’t even come close.

I could see our house lights on and Christmas lights from the window….a very warm and wonderful site to see!! Now we were close!

The dogs were happy to get home pulling up into the yard as soon as the end was in sight. Their dog houses were a welcoming site from the hellacious winds. I got everyone put away and then we fed dogs. It took awhile to find pans, feed, pick up pans and check houses….most of the dogs were iced pretty good but nothing real serious. They are incredible tough.

My team was all bouncy, smiley and looking great. I wasn’t as bouncy, smiley and feeling so great-I felt as though the wind had kicked my butt and I let this get to me for about 2 minutes before realizing this was an opportunity. Yeah, it’s no fun to run in stuff like that but it doesn’t last…take the good with the what seems to be so bad at that particular moment and move on…so I did. The dogs are so moment to moment. I love and appreciate their nature.

Once inside the house after doing chores about an hour and a half later…I was in the basement undressing and getting ready to be done for the night. I could smell food cooking from upstairs…oh yum….smells like chicken, corn and potatoes! The lovely voice of Norah Jones playing on the stereo and the best yet….Jona and Grandma laughing and carrying on. My heart felt so happy. Ah…it was good to get home!!

zoya

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

Things are looking up for the Denali Doubles! The Denali Highway is snow covered from Cantwell to Paxson. We will be doing our best to pack it down and keep it from blowing away between now and race day – February 11^th.

As promised, purse announcement for December 18^th is as follows:

1^st: $10,000

2^nd: $2,000

3^rd: $1,000

4^th: $750

5th: $500

PLUS more than $1,000 worth of prizes, including custom made knives as well as locally made fur ruffs.

We have every hope that the Purse will increase before race day, but we are at this time guaranteeing this amount.

Five spots are still available… Spread the word!!

Happy Holidays!

Jeff

by: Husky Homestead

from: http://newsminer.com/bookmark/5164233

DENALI PARK – Denali resident, musher and Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race champion Bruce Lee is helping preserve an important part of Alaska history.
He helped create a 90-minute documenta…

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

from: http://newsminer.com/bookmark/5029279

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The world’s most famous sled dog race is feeling squeezed by the poor economy.

Organizers of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race said Monday they’ve lost nearly $1 million in fu…

We’re lacking good snow around here but our spirits are up! Training continues and we’re excited to run with our incredible furry friend athletes. The dogs live to run and to be a part of that & their everyday life is a special thing. I feel so blessed!! What ever DID I do before dogs?

This weekend we were in Anchorage to pick up my Grandma Shirley and my Iditarod food drop bags. It was nice to see some friendly Iditarod faces at the Millennium Hotel where the rookie meeting was in progress and nice to get back on the road for home.

Our Iditarod food drop bags are home and waiting to be packed and I am headed out for more time on the trail…..

more training updates soon,

zoya

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

From your friends at Crazy Dog Kennels!

zoya, john, jona and dogs! (and North!)

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

from: http://newsminer.com/bookmark/5003982

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Seventy-five mushers have signed up for the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Mushers had until Nov. 30 to sign up and mail their applications.

Iditarod officials say nex…

Lugnut is one of six in his litter; Mother is Robin and Father is Storey
Lugnut is 1 1/2 & training is going great for this big guy who prefers a team position.

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

Hey Folks!

Hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving Holiday!

We’ve been spending a lot of time out on the Denali Highway training and having too much fun! I wanted to share the following pics with you from one of our recent trips. (They’ve also been posted on my Facebook page – but for those of you that are hard core blog followers…)

The weather outside is blowing and snowing – keep it coming!!

Sure hope that you enjoy!

Happy Trails,
Jeff

Switching things up…

LOTS of caribou this trip.

Check out the tow line!

20 dog team with Titan & Dollar in lead.

by: Husky Homestead

“Probe”

Snow dogs

Zoya & Storey

Crossing water

No trail, lots of ice and wind blown snow. The dogs learn to trust their driver.

Breaking trail across the Gakona River

A very content “Peak”

Breaking trails with Bongo and Naknek in lead

Ice and Overflow

Daily dog walks

Hooking up the teams

Jericho & Bonnie ready to get moving…

Gearing up and Sebe by my side to assist..

How high can Sebe jump?

Sebe in mid -air….she’s a very talented dog.

by: Zoya's Kennel Journal

from: http://newsminer.com/bookmark/4945856

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Jamaican dog musher Newton Marshall arrived in Alaska on Sunday to begin a kind of three-month Iditarod boot camp with reigning champ Lance Mackey.

Mackey, who plans to lend …

from: http://newsminer.com/bookmark/4670623

KOKOMO, Ind. – Students at a Kokomo alternative school are acting as teachers to an 11-month-old Siberian husky.

Kenai roams the hallways of McKinley Alternative School daily, looking for snacks…

2009 was a record breaking year for us here and I want to thank each of you who subscribe to the podcast, our twitter updates, and read the blog. I was astounded recently to see the statistics for the last 12 months since last fall, we’ve received almost two million hits to our site and nearly 20,000 podcasts have been downloaded. Wow, thanks so much for your support.

If you’re an Alaskan looking for more regular news and updates during the Iditarod or a fan from somewhere else in the country (or world) who dreams about visiting the 49th state – we aim to provide the info you’re looking for. We need your feedback though, please send me an email with your feedback so we know how to plan for the upcoming year.

Look for some new podcasts and interviews coming up in future as we countdown to Iditarod 2010!

On Halloween, I tested the waters as a dog “driving instructor,” giving a one-on-one seminar on how to camp with a dog team. The class went so well that I’m considering opening it up to anyone interested in becoming more efficient or just gaining confidence in taking a trail break, whether inside or outside of [...]

by: Trail Notes

I had to post a link to this article about sled dog psychology, and specifically recognizing burnout and fostering a happy attitude in your kennel. Even if this is nothing new to you, it’s a good reminder as the fall training grinds on and the miles get longer as we wait for decent snowfall. It’s [...]

by: Trail Notes

Heads up: I have a new article posted on the Momentum dog food web site, \Dr. Tim’s Pet Food Company – Champions’ Corner, or short url: http://bit.ly/3SwTsk. There should be more articles coming over the course of the winter. Parts of them may be posted right here as well.
The article is part of a mini [...]

by: Trail Notes

There isn’t a lot of excitement, usually, during the slog days of fall training, and it has been a fairly typical year so far. We’re running a little longer than when we started, but the temperatures have remained stubbornly high, so water breaks are a major plus for the dogs. I’ve started running the team [...]

by: Trail Notes

I’ve added a page showing some images of the guys and gals I’m working with this winter. It’s under the heading of “The Crew.” The page is not comprehensive yet. It will include the adults and maybe a few puppy shots.
Also, yes, some of the images are blurry, so I will work on improving some [...]

by: Trail Notes

The 2010 season is officially under way here, in Kasilof, despite the lingering warm weather we’ve enjoyed lately.
I’ve been taking the dogs on runs in the evenings, which wouldn’t be possible if our trail didn’t cross a wetland between two lakes.

The trail is submerged under a foot of water for a good 40 yards. I [...]

by: Trail Notes

We all remember the “Blair Witch Project” which is now famous for it’s shaky camera antics that produced hundreds of parodies in a pre-YouTube era. What most of us aren’t as quick to remember was the creative way in which the movie helped pioneer viral marketing. The Blair Witch Project was quietly, and slowly sold as a true documentary about a film crew. By the time the movie came out it wasn’t taken with much skepticism when it presented itself as using real footage from the making of the documentary. Eventually we all learned it wasn’t real – none of it….

NBC Universal is hoping to fool Americans into theaters again this fall by releasing another movie that is trying to virally bill itself as being a true story, when really its all made up once again. “The Fourth Kind” starring Milla Jovovich comes out in November and according to the recently released trailer “dramatizes actual events” surrounding disappearances in Nome Alaska….blaming the disappearances on alien abductions. Jovovich even introduces herself at the beginning of the trailer as an actress and tells the camera that “every scene in this movie is supported by archived footage.”

It’s true that there have been a handful of disappearances in Nome, and its true that they were investigated by the FBI a few years back – but the problem with this movie is that tragic stories, often of Inupiat and Siberian Yupik villagers from neighboring communities are used to fool the audience and these true stories are distorted into events that never happened. Melanie Edwards a Vice president of the regional non-profit Kawerak, which helped push for the FBI investigation into 50 years of disappearing Native Alaskans in Nome tells the Anchorage Daily News that “It’s insensitive to family members of people who have gone missing.”

I’d encourage you to read the excellent ADN article by Kyle Hopkins, here are a few highlights:

• Despite an FBI conclusion in 2006 that no serial killer was to blame, emotions over the missing and dead are still raw in the region.
• The movie trailer shows victims as being all caucasian, when most unsolved cases in Nome usually involve Native Alaskans.
• The film is framed around a psychologist named Abigail Tyler who interviewed traumatized patients in Nome. But state licensing examiner Jan Mays says she can’t find records of an Abigail Tyler ever being licensed in any profession in Alaska. No one by that name lived in Nome in recent years, according to a search of public record databases.

Additionally it appears that NBC Universal is planting evidence on the internet to persuade anyone who is skeptical of the film’s premise and tries to google search for some clarity.

• The websites: http://alaskapsychiatryjournal.org/, http://alaskanewsarchive.com/, and http://www.knomarchive.com were all been registered on Aug 13th (the day the trailer came out) to anonymous organizations and have posted bogus articles pertaining to the plot of the movie.
• One article on alaskanewsarchive.com appears to be an archived “Nome Nugget” piece written by editor Nancy McGuire, however she tells the ADN that it’s baloney and she never wrote it.
• Ron Adler is CEO and director of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute. Denise Dillard is president of the Alaska Psychological Association. They said this week they’ve never heard of the Alaska Psychiatry Journal.

Finally, as Kyle Hopkins points out, the movie which is supposedly full of “archive footage” is clearly not even filmed in Nome, in fact IMDB says it was shot in Bulgaria. Having lived in Nome it was one of the first things I noticed, it didn’t look anything even close – producers probably haven’t even been there! Houses looked way too nice, and trees….. Nome doesn’t have trees!

If Universal was planning on this type of viral marketing for “The Fourth Kind” and posting fake news stories on the internet to begin with, they should made the *entire* thing up not just most of it. Instead they are intentionally exploiting the unsolved mysteries of real people in a real community and are attempting to deceive the rest of the country at the same time.

Thanks to all the thousands of you who have downloaded the podcasts this season.  You’ve blown us away – your support is appreciated.

Thanks to the nearly 4,000 of you who joined us LIVE! during Lance Mackey’s amazing win.

Thanks to the nearly 4,000 of you who joined us LIVE during Lance Mackey’s amazing win.

Thanks for all those who tuned and listened to our live coverage this morning, it was pretty crazy to have nearly 1,000 listeners all listening at once around the time Lance crossed the finish line.

We’ll have audio posted soon of the hour long broadcast, many thanks to KICY for the “on the ground” reports, and BSSD SBD who were hosting a great webcam!

Lance Mackey left the last major checkpoint in the Iditarod Sled Dog race at an early 2:11am this morning, he is on his way to Nome, and onto making Iditarod history.  Mackey is set to be the third Iditarod musher ever to win three consecutive championships, putting him in the same category as legendary athletes Susan Butcher & Doug Swingley – no one has yet to win four in a row.

Mackey led the Iditarod for more than he ever has before, having very little serious competition once arriving in ghost-town checkpoint of Iditarod, marking the race’s halfway mark.  It wasn’t for the lack of a competitive field that Mackey found himself often alone at the front of the race, Lance’s rival last year Jeff King was seeking a record-tying 5th Iditarod win, as was Martin Buser.  Sebastian Schnuelle took Lance Mackey’s Yukon Quest throne this year after the former reigning champion decided to bow out of this years race, Schnuelle saught to also take Mackey’s Iditarod throne  – and currently is on track to place an impressive second place if he is not passed by John Baker out of White Mountian.

After going through Safety at 8:48am Wednesday morning, an arrival into Nome should be around Noon Alaska time.

We’ll be broadcasting pre-show coverage live online, stay tuned for updates as Mackey makes his way to Nome.

About an hour before the first musher crosses the finish line, you can get online and listen to “Iditablog live pre-race coverage”.  Live special guests, your listener questions, and a ‘09 trail recap will take us up to the live finish from Nome.

Until the live broadcast begins, you can listen to the “Best-of Iditablog Podcasts” which include archived Iditarod finishes going back to 2005, this year’s prior podcasts, and some other fun surprises.  The “Best-of Segments” will stop airing a half hour before the live broadcast begins.

Listen by clicking “play” in the box below, or (click here) to open in a new window.

Wow, lots to go over this morning…

To say that trail conditions over the last 24 hours have been brutal might just be an understatement. Extreme cold temperatures and high winds made for a dangerous 50 below wind chill factor along the Bering Sea coast yesterday and into this morning for the top 19 mushers. Those running along the Yukon River, and even teams in the back, still traveling the interior didn’t find weather that much better as sub-zero temps and occasional ground blizzards made Monday a bone-chilling day for many traveling the Iditarod trail.

Sunday & Monday morning speculation was leaning towards Lance Mackey locking a third straight victory, however mother nature used this as an attempt to teach those of us who made these claims what happens when you assume. Mackey ended up spending most of yesterday pooled up in Koyuk after what he called a “demoralizing run” for his dogs from Shaktoolik. After making it to the small village of about 300 around noon, Lance took an eight hour rest – twice the rest time as he took in ‘07 & ‘08 in this location, before winning the Iditarod. Mackey’s time between Koyuk and Elim posted overnight and into this morning was surprisingly similar to recent years, however normally waiting only an hour or two before heading onto the mandatory 8-hour layover in White Mountain, this year Mackey spent time over 6 hours in Elim.

Lance might be able to count himself fortunate however, because it appears as he was slightly ahead of the worst weather of the trail. Behind him Jeff King & Hans Gatt were forced to turn around outside of Shaktoolik last night and return to the checkpoint, something King hasn’t done since over 10 years ago when he was in a similar location with Lance’s older brother Rick Mackey. King & Gatt had been camping with Aaron Burmeister & Mitch Seavey who were all 15 miles out of the checkpoint when they realized going onto Koyuk wasn’t going to be a good idea. While King & Gatt turned around, Seavey & Burmeister have been hunkered down at most likely a location described on the trail description as a “dilapidated shelter cabin” where “more than a few mushers have had to hole up here to wait out storms”. They’ve been there for at least 9 hours already. Also, Hugh Neff received minor medical attention in Shaktoolik yesterday for some pretty nasty injuries that sound frostbite & wind related on his face, rumors had been emerging that he had been taken out of the race but those don’t appear to be valid at this point.

King, Gatt, and Neff were joined by 11 other mushers in Shaktoolik this morning who will be all eventually competing against each other for the final top 10, and 20 positions in Nome.

More trouble in the back of race, as not only did we learn yesterday about two strange dog deaths in rookie Lou Packer’s team but then the two mushers whom Packer had earlier been traveling with also scratched between Iditarod & Shageluk. Kim Darst and Blake Matray were checked on by Iditarod Air force pilots who had airlifted Packer and his dogs out of the race when the three teams had all been on the trail for an extraordinary amount of time. Once Darst & Matray scratched at 8pm it was decided that they would start moving toward Shageluk early this morning and await a snowmobile convoy to ensure their safety on a trail that is blown over and doesn’t exist anymore.

Here is where the top 19 mushers are currently located, it’s anyone’s top ten right now. The weather forecast for the Eastern Norton Sound & Nulato Hills, including Unalakleet, Shaktoolik, Koyuk and Elim calls for wind chill temperatures to temporary become less harsh this afternoon as the air temp moderates to 5 below.

Into Elim:
Lance Mackey

Out of Koyuk (moving):
John Baker
Sebastian Schnuelle

Out of Shaktoolik (camping):
Aaron Burmeister
Mitch Seavey

Into Shaktoolik: (in order of arrival time)
Jeff King (returned)
Hugh Neff (returned)
Hans Gatt (returned)
Sonny Lindner – 3/16 -16:15
Dallas Seavey
Cim Smyth
Paul Gebhardt
DeeDee Jonrowe
Aliy Zirkle
Jessie Royer
Ken Anderson
Martin Buser
Ramey Smyth
Ed Iten – 3/17 – 2:58

Earlier today (at approximately 2pm Alaska Time) Iditarod Race officials deployed an Iditarod Air Force (IAF) aircraft to check on the whereabouts of Iditarod Rookies Lou Packer (bib #43), Kim Darst (bib #52) and Blake Matray (bib #9). All three mushers were overdue on their run to Shageluk. Packer was located approximately 22 miles past Iditarod. He signaled that he was in distress. The (IAF) pilot landed and found that two of Packer’s 15 dogs were deceased. A plane load of dogs were immediately flown out and a second flight is underway to airlift Packer and the remainder of the team.

A group of local residents from Shageluk are on the trail to assess and assist Darst and Matray.

A necropsy will be conducted by a board certified pathologist to make every attempt to determine the cause of death of the two dogs.

With Lance Mackey into the Bering Sea village of Koyuk having left Shaktoolik a full 5 hours ahead of Sebastian Schnuelle, its a pretty valid question as to whether Mackey has locked up a third straight Iditarod win. Going into Unalakleet yesterday Mackey also had a powerful lead, but holding the large gap into this point in the race makes it very difficult for any of his very strong competitors to catch up. When looking at the running speeds of the top 7 out of Unalakleet and into Shaktoolik, it becomes clear that Mackey’s had the fastest team on that stretch of the trail and others are running out of time when looking for an opportunity to make a move.

If we can’t count on a challenger for first place, then the race for second becomes very interesting. Sebastian Schnuelle, Jeff King, John Baker, Mitch Seavey, Aaron Burmeister, and Hugh Neff all arrived into Shaktoolik within twenty minutes of one another, and all but Schnuelle decided to stay and rest at a checkpoint that Mackey decided he could afford to fly through early this morning.

The weather in western Alaska isn’t pretty right now, the national weather service is calling for up to 30 mph winds, combining with -10 temperatures to create wind chills up to 50 degrees below zero! Friends of mine in Nome were saying that around 10 strong blizzards so far this year have hit the Gold Rush city, making this winter much snowier and colder than most.

• where we find the current race leaders (Unalakleet)
• What’s happened since our last podcast
• Notable awards along the trail
• We answer your tweets & emails
• Running down Iditarod 2009 Coverage on Versus TV network
• Looking ahead to the finish

Thanks everyone for subscribing and downloading these podcast, we hope to do a handful more as the race goes up the coast and finishes in Nome!

Remember, you can subscribe to podcast via iTunes (link) and follow us on Twitter (link)

Lance Mackey arrived at the checkpoint of Unalakleet just under an hour ago. Reports say Mackey’s team is looking strong and he is focused on winning his third Iditarod in a row.

Also, Versus TV coverage of Iditarod 2009 debuted tonight, check local listings for times and replay dates.

We will be recording the new podcast episode within the hour

As Lance Mackey was leaving Kaltag at a very early 4am this morning, he probably knew those right behind him were scheming a way to get ahead of the reigning Iditarod champion.  Mackey had been at the last Yukon River checkpoint resting for nearly 4 hours and was the only musher there the entire time, little did he know was that Sebastian Schnuelle would pull in just an hour and a half later and make a bold move of his own – to keep moving along to Unalakleet after completing a 9 hour run from Eagle Island.  It’s not that Schnuelle is or isn’t planning on resting, but between Mackey departing Kaltag and Schnuelle arriving, three other strong dog teams pulled into the checkpoint. By the time Schnuelle got there we can speculate that he realized a surprise needed to be made, and he needed to keep the other teams guessing.  There are a few comfortable spots to rest along the way to Unalakleet, although they are a good distance away from Kaltag.  About 35 miles down the 90 mile trail is the “tripod flats cabin” which is owned and operated by the Federal Bureau of Land Management, and “Old Woman Cabin” 15 miles futher can be favorite and popular spots for mushers who plan on running through Unalakleet.

I’ve spent lots of time in Unalakleet and love the amazing mix of native culture with a twist of balanced modern lifestyle.  Once we have a musher to the coast I look forward to sharing some pictures and thoughts on this amazing place, and its amazing residents.  It’s also been a few days since the last podcast, Greg and I plan on getting together this afternoon and re-hashing the trail so far – and looking ahead to the next, very exciting phase of the Iditarod….. they’ve been saying “The real race begins on the coast” ever since last Sunday in Willow.

Keep sending us your questions and comments to josh@radioalaska.org and we’ll try to anwser them today as we record the podcast.

As Lance Mackey rolls into Eagle Island continuing his steady 6-7mph pace, it looks as if he has a lead that is getting tougher to challenge. The two teams who were previously leading the race and now running behind Mackey, Aaron Burmeister and Sebastian Schnuelle will see the lead they built up, slowly start to fade away over the next day as they take a manditory 8-hour layover on one of the two remaining Yukon River checkpoints.  Mackey has already taken his and he’s 30 miles ahead of them, but so have the teams running right behind them – Hugh Neff, Mitch Seavey, and Jeff King.

The question now shifts to if either Seavey, King, or Neff will be able to make up the distance between them, and Lance Mackey.  Hugh Neff is facing some pretty formitable competitors in a hunt for his first victory, Jeff King is searching for a 5th Iditarod Championship, and Mitch Seavey is looking for his second.

It’s becoming clear going into Eagle Island that teams are running a little bit quicker than in years past.  General wisdom says sometime on Sunday is when the town of Unalakleet usually expects the first musher to reach the coast, and the last few years it hasn’t been uncommon to see a team come in closer to sundown.  The pastor of Unalakleet Covenant Church told me once as long as it isn’t during the church’s morning services, he doesn’t have a preference as to the time of day – but its looking like Lance could possibly interrupt a sunday morning sermon if he isn’t careful.

Lance Mackey is just about to reach Anvik by late Friday morning, the first stop along the mighty Yukon River. It doesn’t appear at this point that any of his competitors are going to be able to catchup in route to this milestone of the Iditarod although Sebastian Schnuelle and Aaron Burmeister are closing the 10 mile gap between them and Mackey.

The Yukon River is a major part of the Iditarod trail which, in southern-route years goes from Anvik up to Kaltag. The river runs along many small villages that rely on the Yukon as a main thoroughfare for transportation, not only with boats during the summer but also by often using the frozen river as a snowmachine highway during the winter. The first musher to the Yukon is always greeted by a gourmet chef from the Millenium Hotel in Anchorage, where they receive a 7 course meal prepared over a campstove and a nice “after dinner mint” of several thousand dollars cash. If eating in a rush doesn’t sound like fun, don’t worry – the musher is also invited back to the Millenium to enjoy the meal again with a loved one (except for the “after dinner mint” – you only get that once).

From Millenium Chef Cory Gerber, here is the menu he created for this year’s musher to have for lunch in Anvik (should they choose to stay!)

appetizers
Braised Pork with potato & yokee (sp?)
Beef & Goat Cheese Salad
Alaskan Crab Ravioli

Fish course
Alaska Bouillabaisse with a saffron tomato broth

intermezzo
Mango Sorbet served with Lemon Preserves

entree
Crispy Duck Leg with Braised Red Cabbage and Bacon
Dry Aged Rib Eye with Celery Root Puree served with a slow cooked mushroom sauce

Cheese plate
Platter of assorted Artesian cheeses, sausages, chutney, and Salmon

dessert
Flamed Strawberry Romonoff, served with French Vanilla Ice Cream and a Lemon Shortbread cookie.

Prepared and served on site by Food & Beverage Director – Bill Wallace

Lance Mackey claimed the gold nuggets that are offered each year to the musher who is the first to reach the halfway point of the race. Mackey passed Aaron Burmeister, and Hugh Neff to become the first musher to the checkpoint of Iditarod. The long stretch of trail from Ophir took all of the top ten mushers most of Thursday to travel, however Mackey was the only one so far to make the trek without stopping. A 15.5 hour trip for current third place musher Hugh Neff took the reigning champion, Mackey only 10 hours to complete.

It’s still a close race for most of these competitive mushers, but we are starting to see some key players attempt to separate themselves from the strategies their competitors might be using, such as Mackey’s decision to go straight from Ophir to Iditarod, or Martin Buser’s decision to rest 6 hours in McGrath before taking his 24-hour layover in Ophir.

We’ll be back later this morning to keep tabs on these mushers, and hopefully take a look at the rest of the Iditarod participants – its been easy this year to focus on the top ten because they’re all so close together and the GPS tracker system allows for instant data. There are amazing people and stories in the middle and back of the pack too…. it would be fun to hear them.

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:

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).

keep sending your questions to josh@radioalaska.org, we love hearing from you – thanks again to the THOUSANDS of you who have been downloading our shows!

24-hour layovers are the biggest part of Iditarod strategy today for those looking to be first across the finish line in Nome. The scheming started last night when some of the first into McGrath decided that they weren’t going to take an early layover, but use the overnight conditions to push on another 3 hours or so to Takotna and possibly even further if possible. Another half of the leaders decided to gamble that those continuing on might fatigue themselves by going too far, or that an early rest might mean more speed needed to pass the top 5 as they rested themselves. What you’re thinking and planning and what nature has in store can be two different things. Blowing snow covers the trail from Takotna to Ophir and going onto Iditarod presents its own problems. This type of weather could change the plans of those who were counting on a 24-hour layover further along up the trail, and those who were counting on others resting up the trail. Iditarod victories have been born from risky moves in unsetteling weather, but its also a good way to wear out your team unnecessarily.

Aaron Burmesiter continued leading the whole pack into both McGrath and Takotna, this relatively unknown musher from Nome with 11 years of Iditarod experience has caught the eye of an international audience. There is still plenty of competition for his positing though, all of the top ten teams arrived at Takotna within 4 hours of Burmesiter, Neff, and Schnuelle. Keep an eye on Martin Buser, he has been jumping back and forth from the top to the bottom of the standings lately, and his website indicates that he has a plan and some new strategies this year – being the only musher so far to continue out of McGrath after a full 6 hour rest might indicate heavily he plans on pushing as far as possible before taking his 24-hour layover.

It will be hard, but keep in mind that racers will seemingly disappear from the standings as they wait out their layovers – Ken Anderson went from nearly top 5 to being currently represented in the 20s on the standings because he was the first to declare his rest while many others have continued on ahead. Ken will be the first one back on the trail with his mandatory layover complete and will sure aim to regain his position at the front.

Keep an eye on the twitter feed, either on the right side of the page under the “navigation menu” or by subscribing here, these times of waiting can be rough on all of us fans and spectators!

The confusion on who will be leading two days from now hasn’t let up as an extremely large and competitive field of Iditarod mushers continue to make their way to McGrath Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. Aaron Burmeister was enjoying what he calls the strongest team he’s ever had as he was leading the pack out of the Nikolai on late Tuesday afternoon, just a few feet behind him was Hugh Neff – Sebastian Schnuelle hopped on the back of his sled just 10 minutes later. These three mushers represent what is often referred to as a group of “young mushers” waiting for their shot at a victory and Iditarod fame. Lance Mackey was once part of that group but two years of consecutive wins have put him in the “establishment” category (the ESPY nominations and Conan O’Brian appearance might have contributed to that as well). Lance isn’t very far behind these three, and neither is Paul Gebhardt or Jeff King. There is no denying the fact that right now it is anyone’s race. Will the leaders start taking their mandatory 24 hour layovers soon? Takotna, and Ophir could be good guesses, but some have been known to push it as far as possible… we do know that where teams start taking their 24 hour rest will play a part in the eventual outcome of the race.

About the Layovers:
There are a few things each team must do in order to complete the Iditarod and among them is completing a series of mandatory layovers. A 24-hour layover must be taken at some point during the race, but can be wherever a musher chooses. An 8-hour layover must be completed at a checkpoint of the mushers choosing along the Yukon River (Anvik to Kaltag), and a final 8-hour layover must be completed in the village of White Mountain before making the final stretch into Nome.

Other names to watch include Bruce Linton, he is doing very well so far in the 20s and running near Linwood Fiedler, Dallas Seavey, and DeeDee Jonrowe. As we mentioned in the podcast Nome’s 19-year old Melissa Owens is rocking the trail in her second Iditarod appearance, shes running in the teens near Rick Swenson, Aliy Zirkle, Cim Smyth, and Jessie Royer.