Drobny is the first of the front runners to leave Kaltag, with Jessie Holmes still on his 24 and not set to leave until very early Saturday morning. Matt Hall is also off of his 24 in Galena and should be pulling into Kaltag soon. Nicolas Petit is also on his 24 in Kaltag and is a wildcard for the race, he should leave roughly eight hours after Holmes.
Rookie of the Year front runner Emily Ford is currently sitting in Kaltag having had a fantastic run to the checkpoint Friday. The musher told insider she plans to 24 here. Sam LaLonde, currently the second highest ranked rookie in this year's Iditarod is currently 24ing in Nulato.
Michelle Phillips and Ryan Redington have come off their 24 in Nulato and are on their way to Kaltag, while Seavey and Beals remain on their 24 in the checkpoint.
The next leg of the race is the loop where mushers will run their team from Kaltag to Eagle Island to Grayling to Shageluk then to Anvik before returning to Grayling then Eagle Island and finally Kaltag. This is what we may call the second leg of the race as this is where teams must take their 8 hour mandatory rest. Expect teams who 24ed in Galena to rest sooner on "the loop" than those who are coming off their 24 in Nulato and Kaltag (though someone will no doubt not follow that "rule" and do something completely off the norm).
The back of the pack looks very different tonight with the number of scratches that happened today. Quince Mountain is firmly the Red Lantern at the moment, but the musher seems to have struggled a bit Friday and is falling off the pace he held earlier in the race. With fewer teams on a similar schedule still in the race, it will make it harder for Quince to keep up with the teams in front of him. While it's uncertain just how a team is considered "non competitive" and pulled from the race, it does typically happen if a musher falls too far behind and the race cannot keep personnel and checkpoints open indefnitely. We may not yet be at that point, but it is giving fans cause for concern for one of the favorite rookies in this year's race.
On just a general note, as fans are getting excited about a woman leading the Iditarod, it will be 40 years later this month that Libby Riddles was the first woman ever to win the Iditarod. The last woman to win was Susan Butcher in 1990. It's been 35 years since the age old saying of "Alaska: Where men are men and women win the Iditarod" rang true. No real reason to bring that up, just throwing it out there.
Hopefully fans enjoyed their "day off" as most teams took their 24. They will continue to do so for most of the Alaska night (except for the ones listed above, well, most of them) so fans should really take this as the final opportunity to get any real sleep. The race is on come Saturday.
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