Kaiser passes Failor to lead Kusko

In a surprising turn that even caught race officials off guard, Peter Kaiser slipped into Kalskag Inbound checkpoint ahead of Matt Failor Saturday night. Kaiser, with all 12 dogs still on the line, spent just five minutes in the checkpoint before taking off down the trail. Matthew Failor was right behind Kaiser, clocking into the checkpoint came in two minutes behind the 2019 Iditarod Champion. Both Kaiser and Failor have finished their mandatory rest on the outbound trail and just have one final four hour mandatory rest to complete. 

Meanwhile the front runners from Aniak to Kalskag, Ryan Redington and KattiJo Deeter, are completing their mandatory rests with Redington getting ready to leave 47 minutes after Kaiser's departure. Kaiser ran the leg from Aniak to Kalskag about 90 minutes faster than Redington. The run from Aniak to Tuluksak (where the final mandatory rest of four hours must be taken by all teams) is about an 80 mile run. It may well be that Kaiser and Failor will choose to make this their big push and hope there's more than enough gas in the tank to keep Redington behind them and that their teams bounce back after 4 hours rest. 

Travis Beals ran Aniak to Kalskag just 10 minutes slower than Kaiser. He is also finished with his mandatory rest and is now chasing down Kaiser and Failor. Beals, like Redington, has 9 dogs in harness.

This is still anyone's dog race, and as promised the finish is going to be an exciting one. Will we have a repeat champion or will we have a new champion this year?