Joe Runyan
1PM—-Momentum changes, Burmeister out first, Seavey the Younger follows, next Aliy by Joe Runyan Please refer to all the exact times using the wonderful resources of the Insider, and suffer my approximations. I was in the dog yard as Burmeister and Dallas Seavey booted dogs, at the same time noting that Zirkle was behind in …
10AM UNK Sunday—Zirkle, Seavey the Younger, Burmeister, and Baker to Unk by Joe Runyan If we had our way, cameras would be running constantly to keep the pulse of what is now an extremely tight race—-featuring Aliy Zirkle, first into UNK, Dallas Seavey, 52 minutes in arrears and in appearance capable of closing the gap, …
7AM—Unalakleet—Pensive Fans Peruse Postings—Aliy maintains lead thru night by Joe Runyan Update summary: Linda, who is manning the gps computer and also recording data, is under tremendous pressure to provide second by second info. She withstands the onslaught of questions and reports, according to official times, that the gap between our race leader Aliy …
9:30 PM Saturday, Unalakleet—The Bering Sea Coast In late evening we land in Unalakleet, first village on the Bering Sea Coast. Here it feels like Hercules with yet another challenge. As we neared the coast on our airplane trip, the thick stands of spruce thinned, and gradually disappeared, revealing low brush tundra, and ice and …
2 pm Kaltag, Zirkle moves ahead of pack to Unalakleet and the Bering Sea Coast by Joe Runyan
5 PM Kaltag, Saturday Evening—-Seavey, Burmeister, Baker set to challenge Aliy on Portage to Unalakleet Zirkle made attacks from Takotna to Galena, camping obscurely outside checkpoints for 4 hour breaks, and emerged on the Yukon with what seemed like a three hour lead. Others, including Dallas Seavey, Aaron Burmeister, and Jeff King played the math …
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 …
