I did, I did, I did the Iditarod Trail! - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Mitch Seavey is down to 14 dogs, the one he dropped last night seemed to have a sore shoulder. He actually turned around and went back to the checkpoint to drop the dog, unlike what the anti-Iditarod website reports that he would either keep running the dog or shoot it... hmmmmm interesting (one site is already reporting that the Iditarod is reporting falsely. Considering one of the dogs that broke its foot last year is one of the family's dogs and is still very much alive, I think they have the wrong Mitch Seavey lol)
What is really surprising - to me - is that Rohn Buser is up in the mix... being a rookie in the top 20 is impressive! Then again his dad is a 4 time champion, and he's running some of his dad's dogs... so...
As of right now Lance Mackey is in the lead followed closely by Hugh Neff - there's less than a minute between them out of the checkpoint of Rohn (yes Buser named his boys after checkpoints, how sad is that? :laugh: )
Jeff King came in a couple minutes after Mitch, but left a couple of minutes before him so they are 3rd and 4th. and about an hour behind Lance.
should be an interesting and on the edge of your seat kinda race! :rock:
Just as a note - I'm having a ball keeping everyone updated, so I hope people are enjoying the updates, if I'm just being annoying let me know I just wish I could help out more during the race. I mean I love helping the very first day, but I would love to help out with the actual race (but that requires me riding in a bush plane to a remote destination and I'm not sure I could handle that lol)
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I just got to reading your posts. Sounds like you are having a good time with the race! I hope all the racers and their teams have no more troubles than what you've reported so far!
Wow that is wonderful! I don't think I could do a race like that...UGH....cool dogs TOO COLD!
What types of dogs do most of the mushers use?? Alaskan Huskys? They look too small to be Malamutes. Are some mixed breeds? I heard some use a mix of greyhound/husky.
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Robin Twitter name: @NKsDogwalker Find me on FB: robinkay6573@yahoo.com 38th Birthday with Mom, Dad and friends 2011 Next Trip: Cruise on Jewel of the Seas for Christmas 2012
Last edited by RobinKay6573; 03-05-2008 at 10:34 AM..
Lance, Jeff, and Kjetil are booking along the trail, the race right now is not to Nome but to the Checkpoint of Iditarod, which is the half way mark of the race. First one there gets a nice little purse....
OMG! I just looked and Mitch Seavey has once again taken the lead out of Takotna! The email I read this morning had him down in 10th! I LOVE this year's race! It's a massive leap frog! It's great!
Mackey is currently second as he was first into Takotna - but as the article said he plans to rest the dogs there. Mitch rested the dogs earlier apparently as he was in the check point no more than 2 minutes! Long enough to hop off the sled sign in and release teh brake and head out! :rock:
Jeff King is 3rd, Kjetil Backen is in 4th (he's the one who wore the viking hat in my photos lol)
DeeDee is in 13th....
Martin and Rohn Buser have moved up since last night Martin is in 18th, Rohn in 21st (That he's so competitive this year as a rookie is really impressive... I just figured his dad would use him like Mitch uses his boys and have him train a puppy team and just hold back, I like being wrong)
Sweson is in 20th, Scdoris is now in 71st place, she's really moving along I'm impressed!
I am seriously loving this year's race... its anyone's game!
if you want to see photos from the trail here's the link to Jeff Shultz's photos. I applied to work for him this past winter but he'd already filled the position by the time I submitted my resume... he liked what he saw and has kept my name on file! - 2008 Iditarod (Jeff Schultz Photography)
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobinKay6573
What types of dogs do most of the mushers use?? Alaskan Huskys? They look too small to be Malamutes. Are some mixed breeds? I heard some use a mix of greyhound/husky.
The "Alaskan Huskey" is a mixed breed and is what most mushers use. Karen Ramstead - a Canadian musher on the trail - uses pure bred Siberian huskies. Most mushers don't like to use them because they're a bit bigger dog and their coats tend to be too warm and they over heat easier...
The Iditarod dogs are a mix of a lot of different dogs. They are condensed versions of the Gold Rush era dogs (ie Balto and Togo the two hero dogs from the 1925 Serum run) which were a lot of different pure breds that were mixed with wolf (ie wolf dogs, so if you've seen the animated "Balto" that was produced by Spielberg and co. at Dreamworks, that 'half breed' was the IN thing, not the big huskies that picked on him. Don't get me started on the inaccuracy of that movie!)
anyway yes you are right a lot of them have greyhound in them, after that who knows what else they might have :lol: they're so line bred that only the mushers themselves know what's in the blood line, and even then some go far back to so many generations it's hard to know for sure, though most of the Alaskan mushers say that they can be traced back to Balto and Togo and the other dogs on the serum run teams.
Malmutes are not really suited for racing... they lumber a bit too much lol... they're what Disney uses in movies (and they are great pulling dogs, so they are used for those purposes) but really anymore their main purpose is to stand around and look poofy.
the dogs run happiest when it's very cold... -20 and even lower... anything warmer and they can over heat in a hurry. that's why they run best at night.
Mitch Seavey is the first into Ophir... another exciting bit of info - Martin Buser has jumped to 7th!!!!
Anyway I need to fix a bit of info I gave this morning, I accidently said Iditarod was the half way point, that is true in the odd years when they take the southern route, since they're on the Northern Route this year CRIPPLE is the half way point and the purse is $3,000 in gold nuggest this year!
It is aprox. 105 miles from Ophir to Cripple, and the Mushers are told to expect it to take anywhere from 12 to 18 hours to make it to that checkpoint. Mitch is still in Ophir, I assume he's resting his dogs as it's mid day and that's normally when he likes to take a break as the dogs do better in the colder temps of nightfall.
Though with Buser and King - two of the fastest teams ever, Buser still holds the record for shortest time on the trail and that was back in the 90s! - he might not take a very long rest... but the typical strategy of the teams is run for six rest for six...
in those six hours the dogs sleep, eat, and get needed attention from the vets and the mushers. They get to rest for 6 hours, the musher is lucky if he gets an hour of rest. typically in a 24 hour period a Musher will get 1-3 hours of sleep.
Well two more mushers have scratched, and Paul Gebhardt has taken the lead. While Seavey is still resting in Ophir, Paul took only ten minutes at the check point before heading out.
Martin Buser has made it to Ophir, but has not left yet, and surprisingly Rohn is now in 9th! place and is enroute to Ophir! who could have guessed!
Jeff King is down in 13th place, Lancey Mackey in 12th....
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I'm wondering if the Iditarod website isn't keeping it as up to date race wise as possible because we really are seeing a lot of jumping around... from mushers who are incredibly far back all of a sudden making a jump to the head of the pack... it's weird.
it's also odd that some mushers have taken their manditory breaks, and it's been reported in teh news, but not on the current standings chart... weird.
Anyway lol
Paul Gebhardt is currently in the lead leaving Ophir behind and heading on to Cripple...
DeeDee Jonrowe is now in 5th (which is why I think they aren't keeping us as updated as they should...)
Martin Buser is in 6th. Both DeeDee and Martin are also out of Ophir.
Mitch is still at the check point and is currently 9th.
Rohn Buser is now in 12th
Jeff King is in 16th and still in Takotna, he is reportedly taking his manditory 24 hour break there.
Lance Mackey is in 15th and is also reportedly taking the 24 hour break... in face most mushers that are in Takotna are taking the 24 hour layover there.
Read an article that stated that the trail is actually slower going this year because it is warmer and some of the teams are getting sick because they're over heated... Jonrowe's dogs were sick to their stomachs yesterday but apparently they're feeling well enough to hit the trail hard today.
The weather is also pretty sour, it's raining in the area where the mushers are now. So we'll see... I honestly feel that it's no different than the last few years. Last year was EXTREMELY slow at the beginning beause of the horrible conditions (little snow) and all of the pile ups on their way to Rainy Pass.
They all took their 24 hour layover and now they're ready to get back in the race. A great article this morning on Lance Mackey - Eye on the Trail » Is Lance Mackey getting his groove back? - it gives you an idea of what a true musher feels about his dogs.
Mitch is still in Ophir and as such has dropped to 14th... Rohn and Martin have both left Ophir, with Martin now in 6th and Rohn in 9th.
DeeDee has also overtaken Mitch, she's in 5th.
Rick Swenson also took his 24 hour layover and is in 51st.
There's a stomach bug hitting a lot of the teams, so this could be why we're seeing a lot of resting from the teams....
Cripple is VERY far from Ophir so it'll be a while before we see who makes it first to the half way mark....
and in a surprising twist of events DeeDee Jonrowe is the first one into Cripple! Paul Gebhardt got lost on the trail, and I have no idea what happened to the others ahead of her!
Maybe this will be her year and she'll be the third lady winner!
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Well, I was right, Mitch took his 24 hour layover in Ophir and around noon he headed out to Cripple!
the placements haven't really changed among the top, those who are in Cripple have apparently decided to take a break, perhaps the 8 hour break, I don't really know. With the weather being so warm they could be giving the dogs a break before going through the next section of the trail...
I just wanted to update on Mitch's progress, because I could.
Well, Lance Mackey was first into Ruby - which means he's first to the Yukon and he won the 7 course meal from Millenium Hotels. Yum!
He's not going to have a lot of time to himself in Ruby, though. Jeff King, Han Gatts, and Kjetil Backen are right on his tail!
Jeff is third, Backen 5th... Gatts 2nd...Rick Swenson in 4th
Mitch has pulled up quite a few places and is on the trail to Ruby in 7th.
Martin Buser and DeeDee Jonrowe are still in Cripple taking their 24 hour layover. It's all about strategy at this point for everyone....Martin has some of the fastest dogs in the Iditarod, though, it's something he's known for... but this year Jeff King is the one who's blowing everyone away on the trail. The ride from Takotna to Cripple should have taken him upwards of 12 hours this year (by all aprox.) and he came in around 9 and a half hours!!
I'm also assuming that Rohn Buser is taking his 24 hour layover in Cripple.
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(one site is already reporting that the Iditarod is reporting falsely. Considering one of the dogs that broke its foot last year is one of the family's dogs and is still very much alive, I think they have the wrong Mitch Seavey lol)
Then again his dad is a 4 time champion, and he's running some of his dad's dogs... so... 
I just wish I could help out more during the race. I mean I love helping the very first day, but I would love to help out with the actual race (but that requires me riding in a bush plane to a remote destination and I'm not sure I could handle that lol)
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