By Terrie Hanke in Nome
Since the 33rd musher to finish, Jim Lanier, wearing bib #3 crossed under the arch at 17:58 on Thursday, there’s been a lull. Rookie Mike Santos left White Mountain at 12:18 and could arrive before midnight tonight to make the 17th musher of the day.The fire siren sounds and Iditarod spectators flock to the Burled Arch on Front Street. Folks watching the IonEarth tracker hike down the street prior to the siren to meet the mushers and dogs behind the Subway and Gold Coast Cinema building as they climb off the Bering Sea Ice. Participating in Iditarod as a spectator in Nome is strenuous. It’s especially strenuous on a day when 16 teams sign in under the Arch.
The father-son Buser teams were the first mushers to make Front Street on Thursday morning. We’d hiked several blocks down to the snow ramp that brings the teams off the sea ice. WE stood with Quest champion and Iditarod veteran, Vern Halter, and watched the Busers run in from Cape Nome. Halter was impressed with their speed. We were the first to welcome Rohn and Martin to Nome. Rohn was in the lead on the single file ramp but Martin hustled to make it a tight finish. Finishing his second Iditarod, Rohn edged the Master, Martin, by one second – finishing in 10d 18h 10m and 12s. Then it was playtime for the dogs. The tugs wee unhooked and the dogs trotted around the chute as if it were a large canine playpen. When it was time to head to the dogs lot, Rohn herded all 20 of the happy athletes to where they’d be camping for the next day or two.
Colleen Robertia is now a veteran of two races. Colleen and husband Joseph don’t run a kennel that’s filled with designer huskies, they prefer to work with the three R’s – runts, rejects and rescues. Of note is the little lady running in single lead for the trip down Front Street. Her name is Penny. Penny is pint sized but has a heart the size of a 747 airliner. She’s run lead in the Yukon Quest as well as Robertia’s rookie Iditarod in 2010. Colleen commented that she’s so small that the team and wheel dogs can’t even see her. She communicates on another level – they know she’s there and they trust her.
Lance Mackey claimed 22nd place this morning finishing the race in 10d 20h 17m 27sec. His average speed over the 1049-mile course was 3.7 miles per hour. Lance had other ideas of where he might finish but he considers the race a success in that he was running young dogs and they were happy trotting down Front Street. Lance left his warm plunge mitts at White Mountain. He ran the seventy-seven miles in nine hours and fifty-seven minutes wearing fuzzy chore gloves. Braxton Peterson, running Mackey dogs finished his rookie run this morning six places behind his mentor, Lance. Mackey usually turns and waves to the folks at the checkpoint as he leaves. Braxton does the same thing. That wave is a much-appreciated thank you for the volunteers.
Jody Bailey, finishing in 23rd place really turned on the burners to cover the 22 miles from Safety to Nome in just 2 hours and 46 minutes. For now it looks like Bailey has set a standard that’ll be hard for other 40th Iditarod finishers to beat. Bailey praised her leaders Orchid and Skittle for the job they did navigating through an icy blowhole that had no trail markers. Sleds had been sliding sideways on the ice and broke off all the markers and visibility was horrible. Bailey turned the navigation responsibilities over to Skittle to find the trail. Sure enough, not too much later, Bailey passed by a standing trail marker. Officials, spectators and media are plentiful in the chute – signing in, pictures, congratulations and interviews occupy the dog drivers. Jody finally smiled and said, “Don’t you think these guys deserve dinner?” Folks agreed, the crowd parted and Dan Kaduce, Bailey’s husband and kennel partner, lead the Dew Claw team to the dog lot while Jody rode the runners.
Ed Stielstra of Upper Michigan set his snow hook under the Burled Arch and walked forward to the leaders, thanking every dog on the way. A photographer asked Ed for a picture with leaders, Rhu and Swanny. Ed said you really want their picture – they were awesome. Giving a little more detail about his race, Stielstra said it wasn’t his favorite one. The wind around the spit village of Shaktoolik was brutal. He also lost a mitten on a night when it was minus thirty-five degrees between Kaltag and Unalakleet. Parts of the race were really tough but he praised his young dog team – they were awesome. Nature’s Kennel improved to its best finish – 25th place, in seven years of participating in The Last Great Race. Stielstra and team averaged 3.68 miles per hour.
