Before I hit the pillow for a few hours, a few thoughts on the strategies playing out there. As I type this, Aliy Zirkle has just pulled over to camp. She was traveling closely with Brent Sass, but she had come from before Cripple and in the past has run a similar schedule, with skipping Ruby and going all the way to Galena. When Brent and I talked at the campout, he mentioned taking his 8 hrs most likely in Nulato, so I expect him to stop here in Ruby. This time he might even stay in the checkpoint, as at night there is not much traffic.

It is surprising me a little bit, that Mitch is already stopped. Both Ken Anderson and Dallas have already passed him. Maybe he is just doing a short break, and then tries to head all the way to Galena, before the heat of the day to take his 8 there. That would be a move I have not seen him do in the past. Ken Anderson has positioned himself nicely in the Top 5, with a very fast team. 

None of these guys can let their guard down any, being chased by Wade Marrs, Pete Kaiser, Jessie Royer and Nicolas Petit. All fast moving teams, eager to challenge. The only team I take out of the chaser equation is Hugh Neff, as he is down in number of dogs and traveling quite a bit slower than the other teams around him. There is a 14 mile difference between Pete Kaiser and Brent Sass – Aliy Zirkle right now. We are talking about 1 hr 45 minutes for 7 teams. Once teams will get to Ruby here, the current leader Jeff King will slide quite a few places back. Even the next group of mushers beginning with Noah Burmeister and John Baker, should still leave a couple of hours ahead of Jeff. Jeff will come strong off his 24 hr break, yet he has to leave right into the heat of the day, which is not ideal. 

So my current top 5 pick: Dallas Seavey, Mitch Seavey, Brent Sass, Ken Anderson, Nicolas Petit. Note… we are about 480 miles into the race, A LOT can still happen, but based from what I am seeing on the trail right now, those are the teams that stand out at this point in the race.