Hi Boys and Girls,

Last night we set our clocks ahead 1 hour.  That means we lost an hour of sleep.  This happens every March.  It’s called Daylight savings time.  What does this mean for our teams on the trail?  Well if you have been watching the statistics today, you may have seen a “*” after the place of the team.  This indicated that the update occurred during the time change.  The time was corrected and everyone’s time is correct. 

Today’s update:

DATE:  March 9, 2014

TIME:  13:56

LEADERS:

1.Aliy Zirkle

2.Jeff King

3.Martin Buser

4.Sonny Lindner

5.Aaron Burmeister

WHERE ARE THE MUSHERS:  The top 8 teams are out of Shaktoolik and there is less than 7 hours between #1 and #8, 5 teams are in Shaktoolik, 2 teams have left Unalakleet, 7 teams are in Unalakleet, 10 teams have left Kaltag, 6 teams are in Kaltag, 4 teams are out of Nulato, 3 teams are in Nulato, 1 team is in Galena, 5 teams are in Ruby,

RED LANTERN POSITION: Elliot Anderson who is resting in Ruby.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR POSITION: Abbe West who is currently in 20^th position

WEATHER:   The weather in Shaktoolik is 1 degree and is fair and windy, The weather in Unalakleet is 10 degrees, The weather in Kaltag is 7 degrees and fair. The weather in Galena is 4 degrees and fair. The weather in Ruby is 3 degrees and fair.

SCRATCHED: No one!

AWARD: Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award: This award went to Aliy Zirkle for being the first musher to reach Unalakleet.  Aliy will receive $2500 in gold nuggets and a beautiful gold cup.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is a rookie?

Answer to yesterdays question: 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?

A volunteer is someone who works at a job and doesn’t get paid for it.  There are many people who volunteer with the Iditarod.  There are vets, working at race headquarters at the Millenium Hotel in Anchorage, Phone Room Volunteer, Computer Input Volunteer, merchandise sales, dropped dog volunteer, race communications, trail communications, trail positions, and so many more. The race could not happen without all the volunteers.  A special thank you goes out to all who take time out of their own busy schedules to help make the Iditarod a success.

It’s a very close race.  Anything can happen overnight.  Check back often tomorrow to see where your favorite musher is.

See you in the morning,

Gypsy