Hi Boys and Girls

Good Morning.  It looks like Martin Buser has made his move for lead.  It’s still anyone’s race so we’ll need to watch and see what happens.  Remember don’t forget about the back of the pack.  Not everyone’s goal is to win.  Some mushers run for the personal goal of finishing this long tough race.  They shouldn’t be forgotten.  You can go to the home page of Iditarod.com and look for Eye of the Trail articles by Terrie Hanke.  She is currently in McGrath and is reporting from the back of the pack. 

Todays picture from Jeff Schultz is of Jesse Royer coming into Iditarod.

Now for today’s update:

DATE:   March 8, 2013  Early Edition

TIME:    1:13 Alaska Time   

LEADERS: 1. Martin Buser  2. Aily Zirkle  3. Aaron Burmeister 4. Mitch Seavey 5. Jake Berkowitz.  WOW- every postion changed in just 12 hours!

WHERE ARE THE MUSHERS:  Martin is out of Shageluk, Aily, Aaron, Mitch, Jake, and the next 12 teams are between Iditarod and Shageluk, I6 teams are in Iditarod, 32 teams have left Ophir, 3 teams have left Takotna, 4 teams have left McGrath, 2 teams are resting in McGrath,

RED LANTERN POSITION: Cindy Abbott who’s resting in McGrath and looks to be completing her 24 hour rest there.

WEATHER:   The weather is warm this morning. It’s in the upper 30’s and is fair from McGrath to Iditarod.  The weather is Shageluk is 40 and fair.  There is a prediction of snow in the Shageluk area for tonight and tomorrow morning.

SCRATCHED: Newton Marshall scratched in Nikolai.  While traveling from Rohn to Nickolai, one of Newton’s dogs named Mae, became separated from the team.  All efforts are being made to locate Mae who is still out on the trail.

AWARDS:

Answer to this mornings Question:

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is the “back of the pack”?

Have a wonderful day.  Check back in tonight for another update.  I can’t wait to see what happens during the day. And don’t forget to check in on the back of the pack. 

Until later,

Gypsy