Hi Boys and Girls,

Happy Friday? Do you have any plans this weekend? While you are resting and having fun, the teams will be moving down the trail. If you can, check race updates by going to Iditarod.com There you can check race updates and read all the K9 reporters stories.

Who’s In First

As of 02:03 AST, Mitch Seavey has arrived into Huslia. The next 10 mushers have left Galena and are on their way to Huslia. For Jessie, Michelle, Ralph and John, they all left within 2 hours of each other so it is still a very close race. Of the top 5, Mitch is the only one who has not taken his 8 hour mandatory rest. Wade Marrs and Dallas Seavey have completed their 24 hour mandatory rest so we may see them move back up in the top 10 as everyone else is taking their 24 hour. It should get interesting!

1. Mitch Seavey
2. Jessie Royer
3. Michelle Phillips
4. Ralph Johannessen
5. John Baker

REMEMBER: Until the time differential is applied to all times at the 24 hour Mandatory rest, we will not know who is truly in the lead.

Rookie Report

The rookies are all doing well. Currently in the Rookie of the Year Position is Robert Redington who has moved up to 14th Place. He is resting in Galena at. Sebastian Vergnaud is in 17^th place and is also in Galena. There appears to be a tight race for Rooking of the Year. In the Red Lantern Position is rookie Roger Lee. He has left Tanana and is headed towards Ruby

A few other rookie updates: Justin High is in 43^rd place, and Joe Carson is in 48^th place. Both have left Ruby and are on their way to Galena.

Trail Tales

Mitch Seavey won the GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award for being the first musher into Huslia. He received a trophy and $3,000 in gold nuggets. Congratulation to Mitch.

Weather

Ruby- The temperature is 7degrees. It is cloudy with 1mph winds. The high temperature today should reach around 21 degrees. What a change for these teams.

Galena- The temperature is 10 degrees. It is cloudy with 3 mph winds. The high today should be around 24 degrees.

Huslia- The temperature is 7 degrees. It is cloudy with light winds. The high today should be around 19 degrees

Question of the day

What kind of equipment is carried in the sled?

Answer to previous question

Sled dogs are athletes. They need a special diet to meet their needs, and stay at an optimum weight. When racing, they eat about 10,000 calories a day. That’s probably 4 to 5 times more than you eat. So what do they eat and drink? Water, a dry dog food usually called kibble, snacks made of meat and fish (yummy, yummy salmon is a popular treat on the trail). During meal time, the musher makes a soupy mixture of meat and fish and adds that to their dry dog food. It doesn’t always look good but it sure tastes good. At least to us dogs!

Have a great weekend. Hope you are doing something fun!

See you on the trail,

Gypsy