Musher tests positive for Covid-19 in McGrath

 In an official statement released by the Iditarod Trail Committee this evening, the race announced it had its first musher test positive for Covid-19. Gunnar Johnson, who is running a team out of Jim Lanier's kennel and mushing to bring awareness to Suicide Prevention and remembering those lost to suicide, received the rapid test upon coming into the checkpoint of McGrath. The rapid test came back with a positive so he was given two more tests, each coming back with the same result. The musher is reportedly asymptomatic and did not come in contact with any of the community members of McGrath.

Gunnar Johnson withdrawn from Iditarod 49 due to positive COVID-19 test

Anchorage, Alaska – Veteran Iditarod musher Gunnar Johnson (bib #11), of Duluth,

Minnesota, has been withdrawn from the 2021 Iditarod race at approximately 3:15 p.m.

today due to a positive COVID-19 test at the McGrath checkpoint.

Iditarod Race Marshal Mark Nordman, in consultation with epidemiologist Dr. Jodie

Guest, made the decision to withdraw Johnson, who is asymptomatic, based on the

protocols established in the COVID-19 mitigation plan. Under this guidance and per the

Iditarod race rules, Johnson understands that he has been withdrawn. He is incredibly

disappointed and felt his dog team looked great.

Per the mitigation plan, Johnson:

• Was immediately notified by COVID-19 Team personnel of the positive results;

• Was immediately removed from the checkpoint area by COVID-19 Team

personnel to isolate away from others in an Arctic oven tent; and

• Will be removed off the trail using safe transport.

Per the COVID-19 mitigation protocols, all mushers are tested for COVID-19 just outside

the McGrath checkpoint using a rapid antigen test. Johnson was tested by a COVID-19

Team member and the rapid antigen test came back positive. Johnson was then retested twice using a molecular-based COVID-19 test and both results came back

positive.

Johnson did not come into close contact with race personnel or community members,

nor did he enter any buildings or community spaces in McGrath. However, he did park

his team as he was planning to rest at the checkpoint.

The COVID-19 Team is in the process of contact tracing and performing additional

mitigation measures as needed. The State of Alaska has been notified of the results.

Johnson had 14 dogs in harness at the time of the withdrawal.

Gunnar had a strong run through to McGrath and looked to improve his standings significantly from his previous Iditarods (ok partially due to there being fewer entrants to begin with). Johnson's rookie run was in 1991, he last completed the race in 2017.

Nicolas Petit is your 2021 Copper Basin 300 champion

They done did the thing! pic.twitter.com/Tcd4MndsyG

— Jess ☞ Black Lives Matter (@fartsock) January 11, 2021

In a finish that surprised really no one, Nicolas Petit and his team of 9 dogs stormed the finish of the Copper Basin 300 at 11:48am Monday to take his fourth title. According to KCAM Radio, Nic is the first musher to ever win four Copper Basin races in a row. Nic left Chistochina with 10 dogs on the line, but had to put one in his sled due to the dog tiring early in the run. Due to Covid-19 there will not be an awards ceremony and the teams are going to receive any prizes at the finish. Also due to Covid-19 there are no large crowds to welcome them. 

In a battle for second Joar Leifseth Ulsom has a narrow lead over Gunnar Johnson, both teams are less than 5 miles from the finish line and should be in in time for lunch. Joar is technically a rookie in this race as the other time he competed in the Copper Basin 300 the race was stopped mid-race over concerns of brutally cold temperatures. 

There is a live video feed of the finishes provided by the Copper Basin 300, as well as radio broadcast through KCAM radio. 

With 7 mile lead Petit looks to finish strong

Nicolas Petit at the ReStart of Iditarod 47
March 3, 2019.

It ain't over til it's over, but in all likelihood Nicolas Petit is running into the finish of the Copper Basin 300 to win his fourth consecutive title. Gunnar Johnson and Joar Leifseth Ulsom have given chase, but sit seven miles behind the leader who has kicked it into high gear. It seems Petit owns this race. Of course, stranger things have happened and it isn't a given that he's won until he wins, but be on the look out for Nic Petit to come into the finish around 11:30am AKST (could be earlier, more likely later. Check the GPS to make sure you don't miss him come across the finish line.) 

Overnight three more teams scratched from the race, including Shaynee Traska who was one of the leaders of the chase pack yesterday. It was reported by fans who watched over night that Shaynee left Meier's Lake and ran a few miles before turning back and returning to the checkpoint. There's no official report on any of the race scratches, so we will only know what happened if the musher(s) decide to make a statement on their own social media pages. Scratching is a very emotional and personal decision for mushers and sometimes they remain silent. Jeff Reid and Allen Dunn also scratched last night at Meier's Lake.

ATAO kennel reports that the trail is not the best condition with a lot of sugar snow. Sugar Snow adds friction to the sled and also makes for a very unstable/soft trail which only gets worse the more teams go over it. 

It does appear that Julie Ahrens did not complete her mandatory six hour plus differential and has had to take another 6+ rest in Chistochina. The rookie musher had a phenomenal race and should be very proud of what she and her team accomplished. Every team has made the differential mistake, it wouldn't be a "rookie mistake" if they hadn't. This was Ahren's first Iditarod qualifier and above all that is the goal.

The champion finish is always celebration worthy, but the true excitement comes from battle for placement. second place and fourth place look at being closely contended. Teams must give the right of way to the team coming up faster behind them UNTIL "no man's land" (typically the last mile to the finish) then it's every team for itself. Watching teams come in seconds after each other always gives for a fun little jump in excitement.

Get ready for an exciting afternoon of finishes, race fans. CB300 had announced they planned to go live for the finish and I believe the link will be shared on their website. You can also listen to the finish on KCAM online. 

Ulsom and Hall giving chase towards the final checkpoint

Nicolas Petit at the ReStart of
Iditarod 48. March 8, 2020.

Petit might need to look over his shoulder from time to time. What was once a challenge of two is now a challenge of potentially four as Matt Hall and Joar Leifseth Ulsom have made a move to join Gunnar Johnson and Julie Ahren in chasing Petit. Of the top five out of Meier's Lake, only Ahren has yet to take their six hour plus differential mandatory rest (though a refresh does show her staying for 6.5, they don't have it down as completed). Ahren will have to take it at the final checkpoint at Chistochina (unless the notation is . With the rest having just the final few hours to take, Ahrens is all but out of contention (we've seen some weird finishes, so never say never). Gunnar Johnson led for most of Saturday and has been hot on Petit's heels when not in lead.

For Joar Leifseth Ulsom it looks like plans from when he made his racing schedule for the season have changed. While he posted on his site that this would be treated like a training run - it seems he's making a run that's more competitive than training. Matt, too, has a young team that apparently has shown they're ready to race and he's let up on the brake to let them have that experience. Hall's team has reported through out the Copper Basin how GREAT the team is doing. Always good to read that the coach is happy with his team.

If Ahrens has taken her mandatory, she and Gunnar both have a half hour less rest to take than Petit. Ulsom also has just 3.5 hours to take. Hall, like Petit, has four hours left to take. It should be an interesting night, especially since both Matt and Joar's trackers seem to not want to refresh. The current leg for the front runners have a lot of river crossings and potential for overflow is high. There are also some intense (for this race) elevation changes. It could be slow going for a while depending on trail conditions.

Nic's got about 90 miles until the finish. 40 to his final checkpoint and mandatory four hours of rest. His moving average speed according to trackers is 9mph. I don't expect that for this current run, but he'll punch it out of Chistochina. If we give him an 8.5mph average we could see a finish tomorrow around 11:30am or Noon - if all goes well and speed improves from what it is at the moment. We're probably looking closer to 1pm (IFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF my math is correct at all which we all know I'm the worst at this). I just encourage everyone to be ready for a late morning early afternoon finish.

This is not saying that it couldn't change up and we could see someone else take the title away from the reigning champion, but for now Nic has command of the trail and without a trail report we don't know if he will be hindered by being so far up ahead or if this will see a four-peat for the speedy musher.

Petit charges into lead over night

 

Nicolas Petit's team at the Ceremonial Start of
Iditarod 48. March 7, 2020.

It should surprise no one that Team Petit currently leads - mile-wise - the Copper Basin 300. The three-time and reigning CB champ is known for his aggressive racing strategy of get out ahead of everyone and keep the lead. Nic often accounts his racing style to just letting the dogs set their pace and if that means they lead, they lead, but to me it feels far more like that's just where the musher likes to keep his team. It's a good strategy if you can keep it, and so far in the mid-distance races it works for him (still waiting to see it truly work for him in the Iditarod). 

Keeping Petit company is rookie Julie Ahren who is running a team of dogs belonging to Reality TV Star Jessie Holmes. Holmes is playing handler while Ahren runs the dogs and she has consistently stayed with the lead pack. Rounding out top three is Gunnar Johnson who is kind of a surprise through all of this and one wonders if he can keep the pace for the whole course. Johnson is running his Iditarod 2021 season with the goal of bringing more awareness to Suicide and Suicide prevention, so it's nice to see him rocket up the trail with confidence. (I believe he is running Jim Lanier dogs? I could be wrong.) 

The chase pack is large but full of a lot of well known names as well as a few up and comers many may not be aware of. Hunter Keefe looks to really improve his standing over last year's Copper Basin. Joar Leifseth Ulsom's "puppy team" that was just using this race as a "training run" seems to be more into racing than his website led on (also he has a lot of veteran dogs on his team for a "puppy team" but who am I to judge). Matt Hall is reportedly very excited that his young team seems to be "getting it" in their first major race, and Jeff Deeter's team is also performing strongly. 

Three scratches happened overnight. The first sign of "trouble" was Falk Huettman's tracker starting and stopping multiple times in the first leg and falling very much behind. Suddenly his tracker pinged going 41mph and that was almost a total giveaway that someone decided to throw in the towel. The scratch wasn't made official until this morning, but it came as no surprise. John Lloyd, running a puppy team for Team Petit, chose to scratch when the group of young dogs decided they were done. The whole goal of a puppy team is to get them used to the schedule of racing, the energy of a race, and to make sure they have fun. From John's wife's report it sounds like by the end of the night neither team or musher was having much fun. Elisha Rutledge rounds out the list of scratches, but no word on reason.

Several teams chose to do their mandatory 6 hour (plus differential) layover in Lake Louise, the front runners were not among them. Teams must have a mandatory 18 hours of rest over the course of the race. Nic has 8.5 hours tallied so far.