Jessie Holmes and team at the restart of Iditarod 51. March 5, 2023. Willow, Alaska. |
Second place may have been a little more exciting as Richie Diehl and team raced most of Saturday taking down the teams in front of him. Diehl ran down Hugh Neff to gain third place last night, and in the wee hours of the morning overtook Michelle Phillips. The musher from Aniak closes strong in the Kobuk often and is making it a habit to come in second in a highly competitive field. Back home, Richie's young son kept up with the race and his mom shared the most adorable pic of the babe during tummy time following the tracker on facebook.
Diehl came in at 11:33 Sunday morning, just over an hour ahead of third place Michelle Phillips. Hugh Neff came in at 12:54pm with rookie Bailey Vitello rounding out the top five. Jeff Deeter has also finished. There are six teams still on the trail, with two currently on their way into the finish. The back of the pack are all in he final checkpoint of Selawik. Windchill is still keeping temps at very cold levels, and the other race happening this weekend (The Arctic Championship Series) had their third and final leg canceled today due to the winds (sprint races need warmer temps). Lots of frosty pictures of race judges all over social media today.
Typically the Kobuk is plagued by storms, so this year's cold temps and wind are a nice reprieve from the ground storms that seemingly come out of nowhere. With the negative temps along the way, the trail set up nicely for a fast race. The final six will continue to run throughout the night and the race should wrap up nicely early Monday - well ahead of the musher banquet Monday night.
Who do you have coming in as the red lantern? Did you pick this year's winner? Comment with your thoughts about the race below!