Hi Boys and Girls, Are you enjoying the race? The teams are progressing nicely down the trail. There have been a few lead changes. Just remember that we won’t know anyone’s true position until after everyone has completed their 24 hour mandatory rest? That’s when the start differential is figured in. Don’t know what that is? Stay tuned. I will be explaining that really soon. Photo of the day: Can you come up with a caption for this Picture by Mike Kenney? Date: 3/8/16 Time: 13:07 AST Weather updates: It’s been a little warm, in the 40’s, up until Rohn. Nikolai to Ophir are currently at 17 degrees Top 5 mushers: 1. Brent Sass Left Nikolai 2. Noal Burmeister Left Nikolai 3. Nicolas Petit in Nikolai 4. Dallas Seavey in Nikolai 5. Mitch Seavey in Nikolai Red Lantern Musher: Larry Daugherty in Rainy Pass Scratched: Jan Steves scratched in Skwentna due to sustaining a personal injury. She was concerned she might not be able to take care of her team. Martin Koenig scratched in Skwentna due to illness. Zoya DeNure scratched in Rainy Pass due to concern for her team. Featured Musher: Jim Lanier At the age of 75, Jim is the oldest musher running this year. He is a retired Doctor working as a Pathologist at Providence Hospital in Anchorage for over 30 years. If I counted right this is Jim’s 19th Iditarod. He first ran in 1979. His specialty is white dogs hence is kennel name “Northern Whites”. His wife Anna Bondarenko was the first Russian woman to enter and complete the Iditarod. Jim is father to 4 and grandfather to 5. Good Luck to Jim. Question of the Day: Did you look at the time? 13:07 What kind of time is that? Why is used? Check back tomorrow for the answer. The 24 hour mandatory rest is coming up really soon. I wonder what checkpoint everyone will be stopping at. It’s alway fun to guess. Happy Trails, Gypsy