The part of Nicolas Petit will be played by Jeff King

Late last night Nicolas Petit took to social media to announce he was out of Iditarod 50 due to a positive Covid test. While, the musher stated, he had been careful and was vaccinated Covid still managed to find Nic. After a mild panic Nic made a short list of mushers he'd trust running his dog team 900+ miles to Nome. Top of the list was four-time Iditarod Champion Jeff King.

King, of course, was not planning on running Iditarod this year - instead choosing to send his A-team with rookie Amanda Otto. Jeff revealed in an interview with Anchorage Daily News part of his reasoning for sitting this race out was due to having surgery in October - his third, after his emergency surgery in 2020 days before the start of that Iditarod. 

Now, Jeff King is headed to Nome in the historic 50th Iditarod pretty much unprepared. Food drops for dogs and musher were sent out over a week ago - that means Jeff is at the mercy of what Nic packed. Any extra clothes or equipment Jeff would normally send out on the trail won't be there (and he and Nic aren't the same size.) King noted he plans to run a slower race than what Nic would normally run, so the decisions for where he will take his mandatory breaks may be an issue as well (though most of the top teams send extras to several stops where they *might* take a mandatory).

This is not the first time a late swap has happened. In 2020 there were two memorable swaps that happened before the race began. Sean Underwood went from handler to Iditarod rookie in the blink of an eye when Jeff King fell ill after a special Q&A just a couple of days before the musher banquet. Underwood had qualified for the race that winter but was not scheduled to run the race until 2021, he was given permission by the race to take Jeff's team to Nome. Underwood wouldn't make it all the way - being one of three teams that got caught in the overflow near Elim - but was nearly there (he made it the following year). 

The most bizarre one happened at the ReStart in 2020 when Zoya Denure (oops, I used her name on my blog) took ill and so her husband, Yukon Quest champion turned outdoor editorialist John Schandelmeir was allowed to go in her place. The change didn't happen until the team was at the starting line. Talk about issues with drop bags, how John managed to find anything worth using is still a little bit of a chin scratcher.

In 2014, Danny Seavey was tagged to take the Seavey puppy team to Nome after handler Matt Giblin injured his foot in a late training run. Danny flew in from a Florida vacation to run dogs he hadn't worked with - after being basically retired as a handler for several years. Seavey would write in a race recap that the hardest part of dealing with drop bags that weren't really for him was he and Matt ate very differently (a lot of diet and powder foods). He also couldn't fit into the clothes sent in the drop bags.

Even with all of the challenges, don't expect Jeff King and the team to do anything less than finish if at all possible. Jeff is a hardened veteran of the race and trail, and even though he won't know the dogs well he will be able to coach them along in a finish. The pups deserve the chance after having trained for this adventure. Look for Jeff to have a solid run, but don't expect them to break any records. Still, if Jeff finds himself in good position he could very easily bring these dogs in for a win.