Daily update- 3/7/2012

Posted by in
Date: March 7, 2012 2:44 pm

Hi Boys and Girls,

Well it’s day three of Iditarod 40.  The teams are moving really well down the trail.  Several teams have declared their 24 hour mandatory rest.  Congratulations to Aily Zirkle for being the first musher into McGrath and winning the Penn Air Spirit of Alaska Award.

Now for today’s update:

DATE: 3/7/2012

TIME: 12:57

LEADERS: 1. Martin Buser, 2. Rohn Buser, 3.  Aily Zirkle, 4. John Baker, 5. Mitch Seavey.

WHERE ARE THE MUSHERS: Martin and Rohn have both left Takotna. The next 28 mushers are in Takotna, where many have declared their 24 hour mandatory rest. Six mushers have left McGrath and are on their way to Takotna.  Twelve mushers are in McGrath where some of them will be taking their 24 hour rest.  The rest of the mushers have either left Nikolai, are in Nikolai, or have left Rohn and are on their way to Nikolai.

WEATHER: The weather in Takotna is 27 degrees F and it is lightly snowing.  The forecast is for the temperature to drop to -1 tonight. The weather is McGrath is also 27 degrees F with light snow.  McGraths temperature tonight is to drop to -8 degrees F.

SCRATCHED: No one.

Answer to yesterdays question: The world is divided into time zones.  When it’s 8am in Alaska, it’s 9am in the  Pacific time zone, 10 am in the Mountain time zone, 11am in the Central time zone and noon in the Eastern time zone.  In Hawaii it would be 6am.  What time zone do you live in?  So this update was posted at 12:57 Alaskan time.  What time was that where you live?

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Once all the mushers take their 24 mandatory rest, their true positions will be known.  What happens to the rest times for this to happen?

FAN QUESTION: This was a great question that I didn’t know the answer to and found very interesting.  I hope you do to. Thanks for the great question.

My fourth grade in Ashland, Massachusetts would like to know why the finish line is called the Red Fox Olson Memorial.
Wow, you had me stumped with this question. I found this answer in Wikipedia:

“The official finish line is the Red “Fox” Olson Trail Monument, more commonly known as the “burled arch”, in Nome. The original burled arch lasted from 1975, until it was destroyed by dry rot and years of inclement weather in 2001. The new arch is a spruce log with two distinct burls similar but not identical to the old arch. While the old arch spelled out “End of Iditarod Dog Race”, the new arch has an additional word: “End of Iditarod Sled Dog Race”.”

Hope you are enjoying the race. Remember as more mushers take their 24 hour break things will quiet down some.

I have really enjoyed reading all your comments and questions.  Check back tomorrow for another update.

Until tomorrow,

Gypsy