12 Noon Nulato—Kaiser, Berkowitz, Redington, Jonrowe—Vets View of the Venue by Joe Runyan A close traveling pack enter the confines of the Nulato baseball field for a rest break. This group includes Jake Berkowitz, (smiling broadly in the minus 20 temps while only wearing a baseball cap, the rest of us shrouded in ear wraps, …
8 AM Nulato—Dallas Seavey into Nulato—takes break—not ready to make move by Joe Runyan —Early morning in the arctic with winter pastel pinks and soft blues on the eastern horizon, the Yukon a singular white palette, framed by thickets of willows and alders.— The sun has not risen, but the turn of light, that transformational …
6 am Sat March 10—-Zirkle strategy triumphs, She leads pack to Nulato by Joe Runyan While others sleep, the front pack of the Iditarod punched, rolled, counterpunched under a very bright sky, Venus and Mars prominent, at -20f temperatures. When the bell rang after round 1 on the Yukon, we find Aliy Zirkle triumphant as …
5 PM Friday Nulato, 100 miles from Ruby and waiting for first musher Moving always with the race, our Insider crew is now in Nulato, a village situated on the north side of the Yukon. Instead of the single channel we saw in Ruby, the river has expanded onto a broad flood plain with braids, …
12 NOON FRIDAY , RUBY, Flash report—Burmeister, King, Jonrowe modify fan’s predictions This late morning in Ruby, the arrival of some exceptionally zippy teams parked near our three leaders of the pack, namely John Baker, Mitch Seavey, and Dallas Seavey impressed bystanders. Although they remain ignored two hours behind the leaders, Aaron Burmeister, Dee Jonrowe …
6am Friday—Ruby —The Yukon—Crowd of spectators mills at the checkpoint by Joe Runyan “Four miles out,” resounds through the log cabin community hall in Ruby. All know that Mitch Seavey, the 1x champ leads the race. His son follows a half hour or so behind and the fans all have that instinctive feeling he and …
7pm Ruby–gateway to the Yukon—waiting for arrival of lead pack—Seavey holds court by Joe Runyan
7PM Ruby—Gateway to the Yukon—Waiting for arrival of lead pack—Seavey Holds Court Our crew has now been shuttled to Ruby, where we wait the arrival of the lead pack. Here’s the challenge. From the air it’s easy to see that the trail departing the very remote checkpoint of Cripple heads more or less north for …
4PM Wed, A trip around the dog yard, Seavey looks back on the Race, Jim Lanier Seizes the moment by Joe Runyan Mitch Seavey’s statement 98 mile run from Takotna to Cripple placed he and team in control of this year’s Iditarod at the critical halfway point. I talked to him in the dog yard …
Jim Lanier challenges the field, First into Cripple, wins the gold by Joe Runyan He said in Takotna, “I am going to Cripple” and he meant it. Jim arrived in front of an enthusiastic crowd of locals at about 2PM (please check wonderful data sources at the Insider) as first musher to the …
10 am—Camp on Edge, Speculation out of control, more info on trail to Cripple by Joe Runyan Speculation here at Camp Cripple is reaching critical mass as the little green squares (available for users at the Insider) indicate the approaching mushers. At this moment, Jim Lanier, running tenuously to the front, and bound to Cripple …
