Hi Boys and Girls,

Have you been watching the race today?  How is your musher doing?  There have been  changes in the top five.  The top mushers are all still close together.  It’s still anyone’s race at this time.

Now for today’s update:

DATE: 3/12/2012

TIME: 12:46

LEADERS: 1.Dallas Seavey,  2. Aliy Zirkle, 3.  Aaron Burmeister,  4. Ramey Smyth, 5. John Baker

WHERE ARE THE MUSHERS: Dallas, Aily, Aaron and Ramey have left Koyuk.   John Baker and 3 more teams are in Koyuk.  7 teams have left Shaktoolik, 1 team is in  Shaktoolik, 7 teams have left Unalakleet, 9 teams are in Unalakleet, 10 teams have left Kaltag, 4 teams are in Kaltag, 4 teams have left Nulato, 3 teams are in Nulato, 1 team has left Galena and 3 teams have left Ruby.

RED LANTERN POSITION; Bob Chlupach who has left Ruby

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR POSITION: Brent Sass is the lead Rookie in 15th place and he has left Shaktoolik

SCRATCHED: None

WITHDRAWN: None

WEATHER: The weather in Shaktoolik is -12 and fair, The weather in Unalakleet is -15 degrees F and fair.  The weather in Kaltag is -11 degrees F and fair. In Galena it’s -10 and fair.

Answer to this mornings question: When a musher scratches, he makes the decision by himself for a variety of reasons.  When a musher is withdrawn, the decision is made for the musher by 3 race officials.  It does not mean the musher has done anything wrong.  In the case of Jake Berkowitz, He has a severe cut on his hand. While it was stitched up at the checkpoint, it was felt he should not continue the race.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What happens to the supplies in the drop bags of the scratched mushers, or to the supplies left behind at the checkpoints?

FAN QUESTION: Send me some questions and comments today and maybe your question will be picked for the question of the day.

I haven’t gotten too many predictions today.  Please send me a comment at the end of this post and let me know who you think the winner will be and who the Red Lantern will go to.

Until tomorrow,

Gypsy