7 am finger lake
7AM Finger Lake—-Buser continues to lead It’s a wild morning for mushing fans. Jeff King, the 4x champ is widely regarded this year as a clear favorite. He is just to arrive in Finger Lake after taking an obvious rest totaling about 5 hours. Meanwhile, Martin Buser has just gone through Rainy Pass Checkpoint, scarcely …
Finger Lake 4 44 AM
Finger Lake, 4;45 Am A Flurry of activity with three mushers in and out. Lance Mackey in about 4 19 Am ,Matt Failor (driving an adult second team from the Buser kennel) and Jason Mackey 4 37 am. Lance was all business and went directly through the checkpoint, stopping just long enough to grab straw. …
Finger 1;33 AM arrival of Martin Buser Martin Buser arrived Finger Lake at 1;33AM and then departed at 2;00AM confounding race fans trying to unravel a very unconventional strategy. It was noted that Lynwood Fiedler made the same run from Willow to Finger in 2011 and then settled here for a long rest. Martin’s team …
Willow Restart—Musher Field on Trail—Strategy for the Evening Update: Bruce Lee (Insider commentator), me, and a couple of camera guys from the Insider crew left Willow and arrived Finger Lake about 6PM. Bruce is my neighbor and my good friend for 25 years, so we have been talking about this first run all winter. Bruce …
Willow Re-Start—Mushers depart at 2PM The Willow Re-start begins at 2PM. Mushers leave at two minute intervals in an order determined by a draw held at the Musher Banquet on this past Thursday evening. The Clock starts for each musher at their designated start time, even though they may find themselves delayed in getting to …
The Ceremonial Start—Preview of the Teams Noting the coverage at the Insider and video of 4th Avenue, Anchorage, the reader can appreciate the man made snow covered lot. With my media pass, I slip through a gate managed by very diligent volunteer security and wallow through six inches of snow duff. Since the Ceremonial start …
Risky Business—Predicting the Iditarod Annually, for a long time, maybe twenty years, I have recruited the genius of Dean Osmar, the 1984 Iditarod Champ for a Top Ten Prediction. At the same time, he insists that I match his list. This is risky business, seldom resulting in accuracy, but at the very least it identifies …
An Overview for the serious fan
Finally, the race start—An Overview for the serious fan After a winter’s training and preparation, a week spent satisfying veterinary and race rule requirements, and the preliminary formalities of the musher meeting and banquet, we are now a day from the actual start of competition. So, here’s a brief summary of what to expect: …
Trail report and bonus story—Harrison Haviland-Longo nailed good grades and earned a sled ride with Iditarod Champ John Baker Trail reports from the very isolated Dalzell Gorge, including photos, describe a “challenging” ride off the north slope of the Alaska Range. But, first, big news flash. Harrison Haviland-Longo, pictured above, nailed some good scores in school, …
Pre-race Veterinary Exam
Pre-race Mandatory—Team veterinary check with EKG, Blood Work, Physical Exam If you are a musher, one of the big items on your checklist is getting your dog team properly examined before today, Wednesday the 27th of February. That includes proof that you have vaccinated and wormed the dogs, each dog has a readable microchip, a …
