AAron and team ready for exit from Takotna. he is waiting for the offical out time from the checkpoint checker

Aaron’s team of heavy thick muscular huskies bangs the harness, barking, yodelling, their intent to hit the trail

burmeister leaders with handler holding the dogs before the “okay” given by the checker

11PM

After 24 hours of recuperation in a  mandatory rest, AAron Burmeister , Mitch Seavey, and Aliy Zirkle led out a large group of “Takotna” mushers all bound in direction Iditarod, a distance of about 100 miles.

Predictably, big favorite Aaron Burmeister left the checkpoint at 10:14 PM with 15 noticeably thick and muscular huskies.  Mitch Seavey and Aliy Zirkle, with what many bystanders considered the most animaterd of the departing Takotna mushers, followed Burmeister.

Meanwhile, Lance Mackey, arrived at Iditarod at 8:36 PM, and although he has not declared a 24 hour rest, he is still 100 miles up the trail from Burmeiser et al.

Not forgetting our other big story, note that Martin Buser is about 50 miles from iditarod.

It’s not that complicated,  and Berkowitz could be fans choice for race leader

Put another way, Lance is in Iditarod ready to declare a 24 hour rest, Buser is 50 miles out but slowing down, and Burmeister is 100 miles out with a fresh dog team.

Take a deep breath, and after digesting all this information, consider that Jake Berkowitz  is almost done with a 24 hour mandatory in Ophir.  He will leave just as Aaron Burmeister arrives in Ophir, so many of my advisers at the coffee table regard Jake as the true race leader.

I agree, and its my opinion in this very interesting intersection of strategies that , for the moment, Jake Berkowitz is leading the Iditarod.

Side Bars and strories from the Takotna checkpoint

By satellite phone from the trail, we learn that Insider reporter Greg Heister and Mike Speaks were enroute to Iditarod with snowmachines.  Heister, who is known as a “seize the day, carpus diem” kind of adventure reporter, discovered Sonny Lindner on the trail sans dog team.  Using the readily available means of recovery, Heister apparently tracked the team down with his snowmachine and eventually reunited Lindner with the runaway team.  More on that story as we gather information.   We also know that Heister pile drove his machine into several snow banks, further enhancing his Alaska film adventure.

Mike Speaks also relayed from the Iditarod checkpoint an advisory to mushers of a “short 2 foot deep section of water in the trees about ten miles before Iditarod.”

A group gathered in the dining area of the community center including mushers Dallas Seavey, Richie Diehl, John Baker, Allen Moore, Pete Kaiser, and others contemplated the email and discussed the run of Lance Mackey while they waited for the exit times from the 24 hour.  Someone said, “Do we dare go?”

Then attention was turned to the big screen on the wall for an analysis of Lance’s 15 hour run to Iditarod in which it was determined that he rested about two hours in the middle of the run.  Comparatively, everyone agreed that it was a slow run but attributed it to the trail as Jeff King was running at almost the same speed.

Aliy’s team

Allen Moore, the 2013 Yukon Quest champ and Aliy’s husband, was among the crowd watching she and team depart. I told him that it was easy to spot her team as her smaller built dogs were inclinded to altenately trot and lope, while the team of Burmeister, for example, of bigger dogs were inclined to trot.  He agreed and noted that the smaller dogs were more agile and efficient in tough trail and hills at a lope, but that bigger dogs bred to trot dominated on the flats and smooth trail. This was a view separtely offered by Aaron Burmeister.

Aliy’s dogs were very intense and animated as they left the Takotna checkpoint.

More trail info

From Kevin Keeler, Burea of Land Management coordinator, we learned that the trail from Iditarod to Shageluk was not in the best of shape.  Although a trapper  out of Shageluk has been using about thirty miles of the trail, another thirty miles leading into Iditarod is just now being broke out by Iditarod trail breakers.

Lance, I am sure, will get more details in Iditarod and may decide not to continue to Anvik as he has advertised.  The better strategy may be to declare his 24 hour mandatory and let Martin Buser and Burmeister et al break out the trail to Shageluk for him.

Final Thoughts

At the moment, deiphering the competiton is complicated.  But, I like it because we can watch it all unfold, probably about Anvik on the Yukon.   Basically, I am thinking that the best team, by whatever method, will probably finds its way to the rabbit hole no matter the strategy.

Once again, here are the present key players.  Lance and Jeff King, the 4x champ, are at Iditarod and probably declaring a 24.  Aaron Burmeister is advancing to Iditarod with a strong team and has already taken a 24.   Martin Buser, although his team is slowing, is still leveraging a monster advantage he gained earlyin the race at Rohn.  Jake Berkowitz, a dark horse resting out of the spot light in Ophir, is emerging as the possible designee as “race leader.”