Iditarod is kicking into high gear. Yesterday afternoon was the Mushers Meet and Greet, followed by the official Mushers Banquet, where the bib numbers were drawn. The Yukon Quest has taken to a similar format, although at the Quest the 2 events are on 2 separate days. The goal is to give fans an opportunity to mingle with their favorite mushers and to get merchandise signed. There used to be huge lineups after the number drawing of fans waiting for autographs. Having 2 separate events gives the mushers a bit more time to enjoy their steak dinner. At least most of them. Each year the Insider Crew does some pre race musher interviews. And the best place to catch those mushers is during the banquet. It is usually the front runners who are being interviewed. For some mushers it is their first time. When I went over to Matt Failor asking him if he “ could come upstairs “ for an interview he joked: “ Finally I get to see the dark room “. Matt has earned a lot of respect with pulling off a win in the prestigious Kusko 300 race. Not only won he in the fastest time ever, he won over the most winningest Kusko Musher Jeff King. During the Interview Jeff pointed out how deep the competition is, despite fewer teams signed up. Jeff said is Kusko run was his personal fastest run, yet he did not win.
The interviews give a good glimpse into each mushers mindset. Head on over to the Insider Videos, if you have not already done so. Some are more willing than others to talk about their training. Strategies vary each year. There seems to be a subtle shift to more conservative running, not only in Iditarod, the Quest also. Jeff pointed out that the last 2 Quests were both won with full strings of 14 dogs. That is a real testimony to superb dog care, and proves that fast racing with healthy dogs is possible.
For a few years, when Lance dominated the long distance racing scene, running “ the double “ and winning both races set the standard. It is something which has not been repeated since. Jeff has looked at that approach and deployed a strategy of very consistent training, dogs camping in the towline, right up starting Iditarod. The goal is, that the dogs are already in the racing zone right at the start. While being a race Judge in Elim last year, Jeff’s team looked like they did on day 1 in the race, matter of fact they were so energetic, that they wanted to pop the snowhooks, when other teams were leaving. Linwood Fiedler’s team looked equally superb in Elim last year and with both Mushers being in their 60th, they have a lot of experience to draw from. Lindwood joked, that he signed up for Medicare and Iditarod in the same month! They will have to compete with a whole generation of younger mushers, all hungry for a win. Joar Leifseth Ulsom talked about out how hard it was to win Iditarod and that it will be even harder to win it for a second time.
Running 14 dogs, versus the traditional 16 dogs was a much dicussed topic. The majority of the interviewed mushers were happy with the change, while some pointed out how much harder it was to pick the final 14 canditates.
Here a link to the interviews:
