Hi Boys and Girls,

Well it’s Saturday.  I slept in 30 minutes longer today and guess what?  My human heard me wish I had some of the salmon that Aliy won yesterday.  For my breakfast this morning, she put some salmon in with my kibble.  What a great treat that was!

I hope you have been following the race today.  Aliy is in the lead with Martin not far behind her.  This is going to be an exciting race all the way to the finish.  By the way, when do you think the winner will cross and finish line and who do you think it will be? 

Today’s update:

DATE:  March 8, 2014

TIME:  11:21

LEADERS:

1.Aliy Zirkle

2.Martin Buser

3.Nicolas Petit

4.Sonny Lindner

5.Jeff King

WHERE ARE THE MUSHERS:  The top 9 teams are out of Kaltag, 3 teams are in Kaltag, 5 teams are out of Nulato, 6 teams are in Nulato, 8 teams are out of Galena, 4 teams are in Galena, 8 teams are out of Ruby, 2 teams are in Ruby, 4 teams are out of Cripple, 4 teams are in Cripple. The last team has left Ophir.

RED LANTERN POSITION: Elliot Anderson who has left Ophir.

WEATHER:   The weather in Kaltag is 2 degrees and fair. The weather in

Galena is 0 degrees and fair. The weather in Cripple and Ruby is 1 degree and fair.

SCRATCHED: John Dixon scratched in Ophir.  He indicated he was concerned for the welfare of his dogs.

AWARD:

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Did you know that the Iditarod race has many volunteers helping make the race successful?  What is a volunteer and what are some of the volunteer positions?

Answer to today’s question: There is a northern route and a southern route to the Iditarod.  What’s the difference in the two and when is each run?

The northern route is run in the even years and the southern route is run in the odd years.  This year is 2014, and is an even year.  Do you know what makes it an even year?  So the race is going through the villages of Cripple, Ruby, Galens, Kaltag and Nulato.  For the southern route the race goes through, Iditarod, Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling, and Eagle Island.  In the early years the race was only run along the northern trail.  It was realized that the smaller villages were being heavily impacted by the mushes, the press and the volunteers every year.  Changing routes not only helped these villages but brought the Iditarod to other villages so they could participate.

I still have some weekend chores to get done.  Check back tomorrow for another update.

Until then,

Gypsy