Iditarod Update

 

Jessie Holmes is in the lead. He arrived at Anvik, near the end of the Southern Route loop portion of this year's race, and took a 5½-hour rest before departing. He still hasn't taken his mandatory 8-hour Yukon rest yet and I wonder why he didn't just spend three more hours there to check that rest off. 

I'm sure his trail wisdom and sense indicated good strategic and dog-care reasons for his decision, but perhaps he simply heard the barking of Paige Drobny's pack coming up behind him. About a half hour after Jessie had left, Drobny arrived at Anvik and immediately pulled out within one minute. Ditto Matt Hall some 40 minutes after Paige had left. So our leaders right now, 9:00 am Alaska time, are Holmes, Drobny, and Hall, all on the "short," 28-mile run between Anvik and Shageluk.

Anvik is a small town (population 85) located west of the Yukon at the mouth of the Anvik River. It has an airport with a gravel runway and is connected to the Iditarod by a side trail. Shageluk, the next checkpoint for the three leaders, is even smaller (population 83), but also has its own runway. After Shageluk, the race will head up the Yukon back to Kaltag and the descent down to the Bering Sea. 

After the lead three, 4th place Michelle Phillips has pulled out of Grayling and is heading toward Anvik; Ryan Redington, Mitch Seavey, Nicolas Petit, and Mille Porsild are all resting in Grayling; Bailey Vitello, Travis Beals, Riley Dyche, and Matthew Failor have each pulled out of Eagle Island and are heading toward Grayling; and Gabe Dunham is currently resting back at Eagle Island.

Emily Ford is still the lead rookie in the race and is in 14th place overall. She pulled out of Kaltag about 12 hours ago after completing her 24-hour rest, and should be pulling into Eagle Island any time now (the teams ahead of her completed the run from Kaltag to Eagle Island in 12 to 13 hours).

All of the remaining 28 teams left in the race have completed their 24s, except for Quince Mountain, who started his rest at Kaltag about five hours ago. Three teams (10th place Travis Beals, 11th place Riley Dyche, and 16th place Jason Mackey) have additionally completed their 8-hour rests as well. 

Folks are still reporting that the warm temperatures and poor trail condition are impairing the run times and putting a strain on the teams. This situation might remain until the teams pass through the Kaltag Portage and finally leave the Yukon Valley.

Update: At 8:03 am Alaska Time, veteran musher Gabe Dunham of Willow, Alaska pulled out of the race at the Eagle Island checkpoint "in the best interest of her team."