Anybody with a computer and the great tools at the Insider can see that it was shooting stars last night on the Yukon. From the wilderness, Aliy Zirkle exploded out of hiding and hit the Yukon bound for Galena. No doubt, she is going to take her mandatory eight hour break in Galena and look back at the advancing mushing hordes departing Ruby.
Martin Buser is now in pursuit with a slightly different strategy. My pundits at the Ruby checkpoint and l agree that Martin is still in command of the race, and despite the run and rest confusion, will retake the trail from Zirkle. He is presently on the trail to Galena in second. Consensus gives him credit for maintaining a swift and powerful team. Readers may remember that Martin arrived on the Yukon in 2013 with a similar lead of about 7 hours. In this race, rain and warm weather dissolved the trail in front of him. By the time he reached Kaltag, the pack had reeled him in and, basically, his team was out of contention. He was thinking about 2014 while he was nursing his team to the finish line in 2013.
Martin had a chance, I am sure, to stew about it all summer and began work in the fall to perfect his strategy and train his team. Therefore, we all doubt he will make the same mistakes.
Meanwhile, Aaron Burmeister has set off his own fireworks, to the immense enjoyment of his fans, and is on the river in third. Likely he will be eclipsed by mushers Lindner, King, and Sorlie departing Ruby. Recall that Sonny Lindner and King will be bouncing off a 24 hour mandatory and should be driving very lively teams.
As I write, my Norwegian colleagues come out of the cold into the Ruby school to write an article and broadcast to the world on the internet. Of course, they are particularly focused on the race of 2x Iditarod Norwegian musher Robert Sorlie. At the moment they are quite exasperated with Robert as he was a half hour late in getting out of Ruby. Apparently, the haze of sleeplessness (sometimes Robert has trouble sleeping) and turmoil in the dog team caused the delay. One of his best leaders is in heat and this has caused unmanageable chaos in the total dynamics of the team. The Norwegian mushing news site has a huge following and my two Norwegian journalist friends are at the moment explaining how this inexcusable delay of a front running Norwegian competitor could even be possible!!! Go NORWAY, this is only a temporary misstep. Sorlie is one of my favorite mushing personalities.
Readers may have noticed that Nicolas Petit, anonymous for the last several days, had a spectacular run from Cripple into Ruby. His team is a rocket and can easily be said to be the fastest on the trail. How does he do it? Although he sits four or five hours back in the standings, my super race analysts at the Insider insist that Nicolas Petit is within striking distance of the lead. He is making a relatively recent appearance in the top ranks of mushers so we really don’t know what to think of Petit and team. Does he have credibility, is this move only an aberration that cannot be sustained, can he hold his team together to challenge, etc?
Today, I am going to watch King and Lindner. These two deserve respect. They must have respect. They continued to Ruby for their 24 hour mandatory and managed to sustain fast and powerful teams. While they moved closer to the finish line, their contemporaries were resting in Takotna (except Buser, of course.)
Their move was a gutsy gamble but it appears it could work. With well rested teams on the Yukon, Sonny and Jeff are now in a position to make bold moves to the Bering Sea Coast. A lead of four or five hours could be obliterated in a couple of big moves. In addition, Sonny and King have the maturity, credibility, and race experience to pull it off.
Speaking on a local level, our two cameras are on the trail trying to contain both ends of the front pack. Our cameras are organized into two groups of two machines. One machine transports our trail/snowmachine/mechanic expert who makes sure our camera guy makes it down the trail. The pace of filming has been torrid this year, not to mention the monumental effort it took these guys to get their machines over the Alaska range, never mind filming all the action.
These guys are absolutely beat. I don’t think people worked as hard as they have on an ancient Roman galley. These four have been on the trail without respite. Yet, they have persisted. Seriously, these four have been on the trail without sleep since the start. I freely admit I could not have made the team.
At the head of our group resides Greg Heister who directs production. Many Alaskans may remember Greg when he announced hockey games in Anchorage with memorable passion. Outside of Iditarod he also produces a fishing show and announces college basketball games for ESPN.
All of us on the Insider media team were particularly inspired when Greg delivered a very moving Churchill type speech to the snow machiner guys at 11pm last night. Kicking them softly in the ribs as they were sleeping soundly on the floor of the Ruby school, he woke them to rousing rhetoric. “You are elite of the adventure film world. Only a few could be you!!! Your efforts will be remembered for eternity…” something like that, for an extended soliloquy. It was a great speech, full of sincerity. All of us are still reciting portions of his speech as we drink coffee.
Our guys have responded with their usual professionalism. See their great stuff posted on the Insider. A subscription supports the Iditarod. Check out the Insider.
