Dear Friends,

We have had 16 mushers reach Nome!  Jeff Deeter, Kelly Maixner, Aliy Zirkle, and Tom Frode Johansen are currently racing toward the burled arch from White Mountain and Safety.  

As I write, five more mushers have or soon will reach White Mountain, so that’s an eight hour wait before they leave for their final 77 miles to Nome.  

There is a pack holding up in Elim:  Robert Redington, Nic Petit, Sean Underwood.   They have been there a long time. We are not sure why, but maybe bad weather is coming? Matthew Failor and Tom Knolmayer arrived there Wednesday around 11 am, AKST (Alaska Standard Time).  Riley Dyche recently sledded in to join them.  From there, they have a 46 mile run to White Mountain, then an 8 hour mandatory stop. If the dogs run 7 mph, it would be approximately how long before they reach Nome?  (The estimate is at the end of this article.  See if you can make a mathematical guess!)

Matthew Failor

Another group is in Koyuk, 171 miles from the finish.  Others are running in between the checkpoints as I write.  The final crew is showing up in Shaktoolik:  Dennis Kananowicz, Kaci Murringer, and Karin Hendrickson.  They have 221 miles to go to reach Nome.

Of the mushers from Elim back to Shaktoolik, 7 are rookies.  11 are veterans.

From the finishers, we have heard of mushers helping each other along the way.  Sometimes they slow down to help others.  This kindness and camaraderie (trust and friendship) is what’s great about this race!  Keep watching the standings as the mushers get closer to Nome!

Until next time, this is your canine reporter,

Gypsy

[From Elim, at 7 mph, it will take teams about 25 hours or one day and one hour.  BONUS:  What if the dogs go 8 mph?  How would the travel time change?]