Hi Boys and Girls,

Good morning! The teams are moving well down the trail. We have seen a lot of change in position as the teams settle in. The teams are also starting to spread out a little. We should see more of this as the race continues.

Who’s In First

As of 3:32 AST, the top 5 mushers are:

1. Wade Marrs
2. Dallas Seavey
3. Peter Kaiser
4. Mitch Seavey
5. Nicolas Petit

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 Sebastian Vergnaud currently in 20th Place. He is in Tanana. The other rookies are spread out. In the Red Lantern Position is rookie Jimmy Lebling.

Trail Tales

The Lakefront Anchorage First Musher to the Yukon Award was awarded to Nicolas Petit. He was the first musher to arrive in Tanana. The award consists of a 5 course meal prepared by the Executive Chef of the Lakefront Anchorage Hotel. He also received $3,500. Congratulations to Nicolas.

Weather

Manley Hot Springs- The temperature is -29. It’s clear and the winds are calm. Tanana- The temperature is -33. It is clear and the winds are calm.  It will warm up in both places to around 0 degrees today.

Question of the day

Jimmy Lebling is in the Red Lantern Position. What is the Red Lantern Position?

Answer to previous question

What is the time differential ? I want you to imagine the start of the Iditarod where every team started at the same time. Wouldn’t that be crazy? Instead, the teams leave every 2 minutes. That means the last team to leave, left 2 hours and 24 minutes after the first team left. That doesn’t seem fair. So during the 24 hour mandatory rest a time differential is added to a teams time. This means that the only team that really has a 24 rest is the team that left last. The team that left next to last rests for 24 hours and 2 minutes. The team that left first will rest for 26 hours and 24 minutes. This will even out all the teams and it will be easy for us to know who’s in first! And second! And so on.

What does AST after the time mean? It means Alaska Standard Time. The world is divided up into time zones. The United States is divided up into 6 time zones. They are: Eastern (EST), Central (CST), Mountain (MST), Pacific (PST), Alaska AST), and Hawaii(HST). If you don’t know what time zone you live in, ask your teacher or parent. What does it matter? Well for this update, the time was 3:32 AST. If you are in EST it was 7:32, CST 6:32, MST 5:32, PST 4:32 and HST 2:32. Do you see a pattern?

I’m off to watch the race and see what happens next. What are you doing to follow the race? I bet your teachers have some great lessons for you. Study hard and enjoy!

See you on the trail,

Gypsy