Richie Diehl produced all of the mandatory gear and then signed off the trail on Thursday morning in Nome. He of course snacked his dogs and spoke personally to each of them, praising and thanking them for their efforts on the trail. Richie mentioned three young dogs when we spoke back in Unalakleet. Today he mentioned how well the three siblings had done on the trail and how much they had matured. They had come through their rookie year with flying colors. The announcer asked him what dogs would be back on the trail with him next year. He replied all of them, especially the three siblings. It’s incredibly gratifying for a musher to see training and experiences produce maturity in a sled dog. Like so many other mushers, Diehl is a guy who thinks on his feet. There were so many factors that affected his original race plan. While moving down the trail, he was continually evaluating and rethinking so as to respond to the needs of his dogs to keep them healthy, happy and on the trial. Richie started mushing as a kid. He put his team together and began racing competitively in 2010. Diehl has now completed three Iditarods, non of which have covered the same trail. He’s done the souther route in 2013, he’s don’t the northern route in 2014 and now in 2015 he’s do the FBX2NOME route.
One of my Minnesota neighbors crossed the finish in 24th place as he finished his second Iditarod. Nathan Schroeder was the 2014 Rookie of the Year, finishing in 17th place with a time of 9 days 17 hours and 52 minutes. Last year the race took the southern route and key technical portion sof the trail had very little snow. Talking to Nathan last year as he passed through checkpoints I was working in, he wasn’t planning on returning. By the time he made Nome last year and was asked that question in the finish chute, he’d changed his mind and yes he was planning on coming back.
It took Nathan 9 days 23 hour and 44 minutes to finish the weather related reroute to the north in 2015. when asked how it felt to be in Nome, Nathan said he’d rather still be on the trail and was looking forward to returning in 2016 to see the northern route. Schroeder even went so far as to say he liked the route last year better than this year. It was the variety of the trail that appealed to him over the lengthy river runs out of Fairbanks. Talking with Nathan just a few minutes ago in the Mini, Iditarod Nome Headquarters, he mentioned that he was working on a new sponsorship which would be key to his return. Schroeder was really proud of his dogs saying, “Everyone of the gave this race everything they had.” Reflecting on his finish he indicated that dropping a few key dogs early in the race had a definite impact on where he placed. Weather in Minnesota doesn’t come anywhere close to equalling the weather seen on the trail in the early part of the race. Given that, he has to work out a feeding program to suit the higher caloric requirements of dogs performing in the colder weather and he’s already working on breedings that will create thicker coats. Conversations like this with the mushers reveal the complexity of the sport.
Swedish born Mats Pettersson reached the burled arch following Diehl and Schroeder this morning. In about Y2K, Mats visited Jeff King’s kennel and over time purchases two dogs, Shasta and Rhumba. This was the start of the breeding program for his racing kennel. Together with his wife, Mats operates Kiruna Sleddog Tours. His name has often been found on the rosters of the Finnmarkslopet, the Femundlopet and the Amundsen races. Mats earned the precious Iditarod finisher’s belt buckle in 2014 placing 29th with a time of 10 days 18 hours and 22 minutes. Improving in both time and place in 2015, Mat finished the race in 10 days 0 hours and 11 minutes claiming 25th place.
