Brent Sass Pictured at 2021 Start Earns Dorothy G. Page GCI Halfway Award at Iditarod
Back when Joe Redington was dreaming of a race to assure the future of sled dogs in Alaska and to bring recognition to the Iditarod Historic Trail, Iditarod was his goal. Start in Anchorage then run to Iditarod and back. Can you imagine the conversation about what to call the race? If we’re going to Iditarod, let’s call it Iditarod. Did they take into account the meaning of Iditarod, a far distant place? Very fitting!
Brent Sass arrived in that far distant place at 18:08 on Wednesday to claim the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award presented by Global Communications Incorporated (GCI). Sass arrived with 14 dogs in harness. Brent will have the choice of $3,000 worth of gold nuggets or a smartphone of his choice along with a year of free GCI service. GCI technician Bob James who is on the trail setting up communication systems for Insider and Iditarod presented the award.
As of Thursday morning Sass, Aaron Peck and Mille Porsild are camped in Iditarod for 24 hours plus the start differential. There’s plenty of snow in Iditarod, so much in fact, the 20-mile loop that was to take mushers to the old gold mining camp of Flat was scratched. Race marshal, Mark Nordman, told Insider that after talking with trailbreakers and learning of the 4 to 5 foot depth of snow and the difficulty in breaking trail to Iditarod, he made the decision to return from Iditarod without touring Flat.
Martin Buser and Ryne Olson Camped in Ophir Along With Jessie Holmes (Insider Video)
Other mushers including Jessie Holmes had planned to 24 in Iditarod but concerns over a soft trail caused them to rethink their plan and camp in Ophir instead. In doing so, they feel the trail will be firm when they head to the far distant place of Iditarod, 80 miles from Ophir.
When Sass arrived in Ophir, he asked about the trail to Iditarod. The race judge couldn’t give him specific information except that the trailbreakers had departed the day before and ought to be there by now. Insider viewers could almost see the wheels turning in Brent’s head as he was processing the information or lack of information and deciding on whether to mush on.
From analytics, it looks as if the three trail leaders had a lot of variance in speed between Ophir and Iditarod. That’s time on the clock. Will their move to rest at Iditarod pay off or will the teams running the trail after it’s had time and cold temperatures for setting up have the advantage? Over night temperatures in the area were minus twenty degrees. That’s primo for firming up the trail. Later today as more teams arrive in Iditarod, we’re going to be able to compare their run times with the times of Sass, Peck and Porsild. Stay tuned on that.
Insider Reporter Liz Raines Interviews Matthew Failor on his Birthday in McGrath (Insider Update)
Matthew Failor celebrated his birthday in McGrath yesterday. There may not have been a birthday cake with candles but there were signs wishing the birthday boy well created by the students of Takotna. It happens that Susan Smith, the Takotna teacher is acting as a checker in McGrath. Her students sent their artwork with Susan to post in the checkpoint to honor Matthew’s special day. Failor, along with nearly half of the 2021 field spent their 24-hour rest in McGrath.
Failor was interviewed by his wife, Insider reporter Liz Raines in McGrath yesterday. Failor has 11 dogs in harness and has now checked into Ophir covering the 41 miles in an average speed of slightly more than 9 mph. Failor said he chose to rest in McGrath for recharging. Yes, of course he was referring to his dogs and himself but he had electronics that needed recharging too. Most notable would be his headlamps and then perhaps a music source. The necessity of charging electronic devices was mentioned by Libby, DeeDee and Aliy in the Insider Women of Iditarod Roundtable aired prior to the race. For an old school musher like Libby who ran back in the mid 80’s, electronics were quite different. Headlamps operated off battery power!
Battery Powered Headlamp
Rick Casillo who took his long rest back in Rohn has now leap frogged ahead of 13 teams as he has departed McGrath with 13 dogs in harness. Rick completed his 8-hour interior rest in McGrath.
Gunner Johnson from Duluth, Minnesota has been withdrawn from the race after testing positive for COVID-19. Mushers were tested twice prior to the race and have also been tested in McGrath. A positive test result is rechecked while the musher is isolated. Iditarod has an in depth COVID-19 mitigation plan with a goal of zero transmission. Johnson had 14 energetic dogs in harness and is very disappointed to end his race.
Today is going to be a very interesting day as teams position themselves after taking the 24-hour rest. The picture of who is leading the race, not just the leader on the trail is going to come into focus as the day wears on. Weather is going to be near perfect for the trail and the dogs. Mushers have learned to adapt to the below zero temperature that the dogs find invigorating. Stay tuned!
