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Doug Swingley: "Read the History Books"

Rested Teams to Leave the Halfway Checkpoint Tonight

by Andy Moderow

03/09/2006

Under most circumstances, the first musher to the halfway checkpoint of Cripple may question whether such a victory is a good thing for their end goal of winning the Iditarod... Since 1990, only half of the mushers to receive the GCI Dorothy G. Page halfway award have gone on to win the race that same year. Most competitors would prefer to win the Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award, given to the first musher reaching Unalakleet: Since 1993, 11 of the 13 recipients of that award have also reached Nome first. Yet 4-time Iditarod champion Doug Swingley has a different history with the halfway award. In a recent interview shown on Iditarod Insider, Swingley was asked about his strategy of breaking to the front of the pack before taking his layover. He was also questioned about whether the strategy taken by competitor Jeff King, who recently completed his 24 in Takotna, worried him at all. Swingley responded confidently to both questions: “Read the history books.” A quick glance at the statistics reveals that each year Swingley has won the race he has also won the halfway award. With his stated confidence in his dog team, and with the history books on his side, will the Montana musher succeed in winning his 5th title this year?

Jeff King is equally confident about his dog team, and by ‘24ing’ early, he plans to preserve the speed he has enjoyed thus far in the race. His recent run time, taking less than 8 hours to travel from Ophir to Cripple, indicates that this 24 hour strategy may have paid off for him, though there is no way to be certain. One unanswerable question is how long the same run took Swingley. With a published run time of 13 hours, it is likely that Doug stopped and rested his team somewhere along the trail, leaving no indication of how long he was actually traveling. Also, King’s blazing speed may have more to do with improved trail conditions, or the fact that his team was fresh off a 24 hour stop. Swingley will reap the benefits of his temporary speed increase on the trail to Ruby, as he will be fresh off his day-long break, while King has already used his speed boost on the way to Cripple. Yet King will most likely leave Cripple before Swingley, getting a head start on the trail to Ruby. Tonight’s million dollar questions is ‘Who will arrive first?’ Also, we cannot forget about the other talented mushers heading towards the Yukon under the stars tonight: Many others will depart Cripple before the sun rises tomorrow morning. Once the front mushers start traveling down the Yukon together, a clear leader of Iditarod XXXIV will emerge, and our mathematical craziness will have fewer variables. However, a new unknown will be brought into the equation. The question of ‘Can the leader maintain the lead?’ will be first and foremost in the minds of all, both racers and spectators alike.