martin at 3am dines with his wife Kathy, who has been following the race by snowmachine

martin signs sheet with checker John Johnson who tell us trail was rained on and rock hard

Martin into Anvik at 2 17 am, with 14 dogs loping into the checkpoint.  martin dropped the hook, and said, “Rocket ship.”  He was as impressed as we were .  Everything we have been seeing on the tracker and checkpoints indicates his team is the fastest on the trail  (see account below of waiting for Martin.)

My opinion, it wouldnt have mattered what his strategy, he has the magic to the Yukon and with his running speed it was inevitable to be at the front.

This run from Iditarod is a bona fide statement.   No doubt about it, observers questioned whether Martin’s team could sustain effort after starting uncoventionally.  But, this dominating run demonstrates that for the moment this team has the magic.

My own informal tracking included a look at the tracker from time to time to see which musher was surging or falling behind.   It looks like Martin eclipsed Burmeister, stayed even with Zirkle, and running equal with Seavey.  In addition, he has a three or four hour lead.

In the musher world, once you get a lead and start looking back you can control the race.  To the front, Martin is going to give his dogs exactly what he thinks they need.   To catch him, a following musher either has to be faster or take a gamble and cut rest a little.  When you cut rest, the consequence is often slower running speed.  Its just common sense, and Martin will leverage the pack up the Yukon to Kaltag.  If he plays it right he can even increase his lead.

General impression, the fourteen dogs into Anvik look solid.  Martin puts the dogs on a single tug line without necklines so they have plenty of freedom to move on the trail.  Normally mushers would use necklines to keep the team orderly and in line, but with a lot of training and dogs that like to drive, no necklines is musher purity.

note the freedom of dogs in photo

running without necklines, dogs have plenty of freedom to move on trail. some were barking on arrival in Anvik

Patrick, left, and Bobby, right, get ready for guormet dinner to first musher to the yukon—just happens to be Martin Buser

Anvik, Waiting for arrival of Martin, 1:45AM

Martin is about 5 miles out and the village is getting ready for the first musher to hit the Yukon (in the background at the checkpoint, the Millenium chefs are putting together a gourmet dinner to accompany a cash award.)

The situation is Anvik is crazy.  Camera guys on snowmachines have pulled in over the last couple of hours and report Martin is moving smoothly.  In fact, a group of us comparing notes basically agree that Aliy Zirkle was travelling at the same speed as Martin before she peeled off to take a break on the trail.

That makes us believe she is on a separate schedule and is going to leap frog a few checkpoints and campout as she moves up the Yukon.  It’s a smart strategy because it evens out the runs.  Pete Kaiser is doing the same thing, we think.

But , the most important trend I am seeing is the speed of Buser.  It looks like he is actually faster than Aaron Burmeister, who at this moment is about 26 miles behind. I have been watching the tracker from time to time and Aaron slid a mile or two over the last few hours.  This is a huge confirmation that Buser’s radical move from the start to Rohn didn’t hurt team speed.   If you are late to the race, you will recall that martin left the start chute and drove his dogs 160 miles with only about two hours rest enroute.  Then , he took his 24 hour break and stated that he had trained the dogs for this move and felt they would completely recover.  For the moment, it looks like he is exactly right.  One of our guys on snowmachines has been watching teams for entire race and says martin’s driving the real deal.

MEANWHILE   martin just a couple of miles out—-listen for the church bell in the village of Anvik

Bobby and Patrick, from the Millenium, are organizing to prepare a gourmet meal for the first musher to the Yukon.  They were going to crank up the heat once they figure out the schedule of the musher—-which is going to look a lot like Martin Buser.

I was going over the menu and note Red King Crab , smoked sockeye salmon,rib eye steak, deserts, and 3500 bucks in cash.

Action in the checkpoint

The checkpoint clears to wait for Martin, along with a crowd of Anvik residents.

martin in at 2:17 am with fourteen dogs in a team that steamed into Anvik at 2 17 am.  John Baker, in 2011, arrived here at 5 43 am on a record breaking run.   Martin is clearly the fastest on the trail and  leading the pack on the Yukon.