“to your feet” and the team leans into the harness. ‘alright” and team, led by a single leader, passes seavey resting on the out trail and moves in direction Elim

out with the frozen drink in cooler, King fills it with hot water. he wants to drink water to avoid dehydration and hypothermia. Temp is now about -15F in Koyuk

8:15 AM  King blows thru Koyuk

Check out photos posted by Sebastian.  King and team nibbled away at Seavey by cutting rest in Shaktoolik and gaining  23 minutes (more or less, check my accuracy by looking at the official Iditarod times) across the ice.

I took photos of Jeff King in the checkpoint, dressed in a huge parka that draped to his knees,  dumping out frozen drink from his trademark two quart water cooler.  The cooler is fitted with a long straw, an innovation he recruited after finding himself dehydrated in races. (Get dehydrated,  risk hypothermia, risk not thinking clearly when sleep deprived and tired!) He refilled it with hot water from the tap, and than hustled back to his dog team in front of the checkpoint front door.  Quickly he cut open bags and selected several bags of dry kibble, dog snacks, and his own personal food.  A falling star lit up the sky and distracted a big group of local fans. Some observers pointed out that he did not take straw which would indicate he planned on going  all the way to Elim

“To your feet,” and the dogs stood prepared for the next command.  “alright” and the team turned on the out trail, briefly stopping by Seavey’s parked team.   Just Subjective (my view of the scene)—Kings dog appeared animated and easily took the lead of the race.

As a side note—it seems  to me, just a personal observation—this is Jeff’s play. Just as Buser made a play on the first day of the race, Burmeister made a play on the Yukon, now King has made a move on the Bering Sea Coast.  I talked to him briefly in Anvik where he was well behind the lead pack and said, “I am trying to figure out if its worth the effort to try and catch them.”  He did it by never crossing the red line, always staying within his imposed parameters of regularly feeding and resting the dogs.  Gradually he reeled in the front pack of mushers, some of whom were taking big risks to capture the lead, and now has assumed the lead.

What will he do? Bruce Lee thinks he will just go a short distance out of town, camp on a portage trail where he can view the trail winding on the shore ice of Norton Bay.  If he spots a musher, he can pull the hook and continue undetected to Elim.  Theoretically, Mitch Seavey and others have no idea where King will stop.

Here we have an interesting point of contention.  The Iditarod, as a matter of philosopy, has tried to maintain the “purity” of the race by fighting musher technology.  Although gps is allowed presently, the rules committee fought it for years, until finally admitting that a ban on GPS was unenforceable.  I asked the resident race judge what the current policy on access to the Tracker by mushers might be.  “Grey Area” was the answer.  It seems logical that Mitch would want to view the Tracker and determine if King was camping or moving.  Obviously, it could influence  a decision. Conceivably, some mushers have smart phones and can access information.  I don’t think you can fight technology with prohibitions.

I think Jeff will just do business as usual.  He’ll run along the shore ice until the trail jumps to an inland portage for Elim, taking advantage of the morning hours for travel, at which point he’ll stop for three hours at mid-day and then continue to Elim and then White Mountain.  At White Mountain, a mandatory 8 hour rest will allow he and team a deep rejuvenating sleep.  The 77 mile run to Nome, if everything goes right, should be an uncontested run to a fifth Iditarod victory.

Final thoughts

King has taken control of the race.  Burmeister, who was so strong just a day ago, may have to regroup.  Ray Redington is making a play to the front, but can he catch King?