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Top 20 Round-Up

Lots of Action Approaches Nome

by Andy Moderow

03/14/2006

With Jeff King on the final run into Nome, departing 3 hours before his nearest competition, it appears that the Denali musher has his fourth Iditarod title in the bag. This doesn’t mean that the competition is over, however: The current top 20 mushers in Iditarod XXXIV are spread out over 100 miles, with some racing neck and neck. For a race fan, there will be plenty of action in the next day.

Here is a rundown on the teams behind Jeff King, making up the top 20:

In second place, Doug Swingley has nearly two hours between him and third place, currently held by Paul Gebhardt. This is a fairly large time cushion, but anything is possible on the final 77 mile run into Nome.

Gebhardt leads a pack of the four mushers vying for 3rd – 6th place that will depart White Mountain within 2 hours of each other, if they choose to stay the minimum 8 hours. While DeeDee Jonrowe, John Baker and Bjornar Andersen all completed the run from Elim in roughly the same time, Gebhardt ran half an hour quicker then the three. If he can keep that speed up, he should have no trouble maintaining a grasp on third. The other three, however, are all spaced approximately 45 minutes apart – anything could happen on the final run.

Ed Iten, from Kotzebue, AK left Elim in 7th place, nearly three and a half hours before the team behind him. He didn’t rest in the checkpoint, and may have elected to take a break on the trail. We will see how close he is to the teams in front of him, and the teams behind him, when he reaches White Mountain. A very talented musher, Ed placed 2nd in last years race, and could easily make up time on the run to Nome, especially as his dogs are used to coastal conditions.

One quarter of the top 20 passed through Elim within fourty minutes of each another, making one of the most intense races in Iditarod history. Mitch Seavey, Jason Barron, Aliy Zirkle, Lance Mackey and Aaron Burmeister all left Elim after taking a short rests, and anything could happen within this group. Seavey and Barron had roughly equivalent run times from Koyuk, traveling slightly faster than Mackey and Burmeister. Aliy appears to have stopped out on the trail to give her team a rest, so we have no indication of how long the run actually took her. When they arrive in White Mountain we may have a better idea of how the final standings will appear, but even then some uncertainty will exist: There will be some nervous friends and family members biting their nails under the arch tomorrow afternoon, when they are due to finish!

Jessie Royer, 2001 rookie of the year, follows the pack of five by an hour, currently in 13th place. Look at her blazing run time between Koyuk and Elim: She traveled the trail nearly an hour quicker than the teams in front of her. She could easily catch everyone in the group of five. Behind her by an hour, Ken Anderson, brothers Cim and Ramey Smyth, and Sonny Lindner all left Elim in a cluster. Sonny rested four and a half hours in Elim, which should help him travel faster than the other mushers who just blew through, but on the run from Koyuk he was somewhat slower then them. Anderson traveled at the same speed as Jessie on the run from Koyuk, and could easily catch a few teams on the final run in.

Melanie Gould pulled into Elim in 18th place, shortly after the four teams in front of her had left. All alone in Elim, she managed to pass Louis Nelson, Sr. on the run from Koyuk. Wrapping up the top 20, Hugh Neff is out of Koyuk, with a 7 minute lead over William Hanes. That is certainly still a race!

With moderate temperatures and clear skies in the forecast, the top 20 shouldn’t face the severest coastal weather possible on the final stretch of trail into Nome. That doesn’t mean it won’t be exciting, though: With much of the top 20 running neck and neck, lots will happen in the next day!