It’s 10 degrees above zero in Alaska, with light snow. The top five mushers are as follows:
- Alliy Zirkle
- John Baker
- Mitch Seavey
- Jeff King
- Dallas Seavey
All have made it to Takotna, where they appear to be taking their 24-hour rest periods. At the end of their rest, they will make up their start differential (i.e. at the end of the 24 hours, the person who was last musher from the starting line gets to leave immediately, while the person who was the first to start from Willow has to wait a little over 2 extra hours before leaving.) So, once they get on the road again, we’ll be able to truly tell who’s leading.
Keep in mind, the mushers have to sign IN to each checkpoint, but the only one they have to sign OUT of is the one where they take their 24-hour rest period. Sometimes they like to sneak out, just to add to the mind-game factor of the race.
The bottom five: Silvia Furtwangler, Matt Failor, Jan Steves, Bob Chlupach, and Dan Seavey, have all left Rohn.
Check back tomorrow at about this time for another update, or check out the official Iditarod website for up-to-the-minute results.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!