Four rookies on their way to Nome, one stuck in Golovin

Friday looks to be the last day on the trail for Iditarod 2024 - unless one team can somehow reboot and charge up to White Mountain soon. Three rookies are making their way into the final checkpoint of Safety, one just left white mountain, and the final team has been in the former checkpoint of Golovin for over 24 hours.

Lauro Edlund leads the final flight into Safety with Sevy Cathry and Jeff Reid close behind. The three have traveled most of the trail together and no doubt will continue to do so all the way to the arch. As they leave the checkpoint it will be just a little more coastal run before climbing their final mountain of Cape Nome. Then a run along a road, one final river crossing, a run along the beach and then up onto Front Street where the burled arch and a belt buckle awaits.

Joshua Robbins left White Mountain around 8:45am. As officials counted down he went through a similar ritual to what he did back on Willow Lake a week an a half ago. As he stood on the back of his sled the team broke out into a loud and happy "dogsong". The team's battle cry only stiffled when the official said go and the musher didn't let them leave - he was still trying to put on his parka. The judgemental looks of the team were comical, but they were soon on their way "nice and steady".

Robbins will have to wait a while to find out if he's the Red Lantern this year or not (assuming he makes it to Nome, and why wouldn't he?) as Sean Williams has not scratched yet even after being hung up in Golovin. The three time Iditarod rookie is once again seeing his hope of finishing dashed as his team reportedly will not go out onto the Sea Ice of Golovin Bay. The dogs are still energetic and have been rides to children of Golovin to make the most of their time in the former checkpoint.

Golovin was a checkpoint of the Iditarod for many years, but as teams were able to run further between checkpoints and with the mandatory 8 of White Mountain being the next stop, Golovin became a memory. Until this year. It's an unplanned stop for one team, and it will no doubt be a memory for all. Williams' team reported that he would try one more time this morning, but with little movement on the tracker it's unsure if they will ever get moving.

The Iditarod is coming to a close quickly. It was one of extreme lows and highs. 38 teams left the starting line March 3, and it may have 30 finishes. It's not over quite yet and cheering in the final teams is something every fan should be excited to do.

Eklund releases recap of race and statement on his WD

 Many in the mushing community, mushers and fans alike, were stunned by the Race Marshal's decision yesterday to pull Lauro Eklund from the YQA550. The race cited Rule 22, the "competitiveness rule", as their reason for ending the musher's race early. Many were confused as up to the point that a statement was made, Lauro seemed to be doing just fine. In fact, the race had posted pics and praise for the musher as he reached the checkpoint of Central (where he would later be withdrawn from).

The YQA's facebook post on the news of the withdrawal quickly blew up with many mushers - even those who had just completed the 300 and 80 mile YQA races - calling for a better explanation. Comments were lobbied that the YQA lost the spirit of the race, other mushers said this had them rethinking entering the race in the future. An entire discussion on how dog sled races cannot just cater to the teams that have the money and means to run a full time operation and to heck with those with jobs outside of training dogs.

The race has stayed mum on the decision past what was released in the original statement. Lauro's friends and family have not. Now the musher has chimed in saying that the race was perfect for 300 miles and that, ultimately, he does not understand the Race Marshal's decision and feels that he and his team were robbed of a finish.

Instead of summarizing, it's best to let the musher tell it all himself. You can read his post in full on his facebook page:

Time will tell if things change within the YQA. There have been some serious allegations against Race Marshal Mike McCowan - though not many have been made publicly. Whatever the outcome, hopefully more will come to light on the reasons the decision was made, and that Lauro continues towards his goals.

Brent Sass sitting on a giant cushion

If you've been following along with the Yukon Quest Alaska 550, you are not at all surprised to know that Brent Sass has, essentially, run away with the competition. The experienced champion has over a four and a half hour lead ahead of the chase pack, and there seems to be no slowing him down. Sass prides himself on the "trot" strategy. The dogs never lope or run, they stay at a steady trot, and that's how they make it first to the finish. 

Sass and team ran into the Two Rivers Inbound checkpoint at 11:23am on Tuesday carrying two of his dogs. There is a mandatory four hour rest and vet check in this checkpoint, and Brent elected to stay almost a half hour more in the checkpoint knowing full well that he could afford to take his time. Sass does not typically rest in checkpoints unless mandated, so to see him take his time was a tad interesting - but his social media team assures fans this was all part of the plan. Brent left the two dogs he carried into the checkpoint in his handlers' capable hands and headed for Nenana at 4pm.

Just nine minutes later, Quest Rookie Wade Marrs and team pulled in. Marrs made up a lot of time on Petit, but lost it all and then some while climbing the infamous "Rosebud". While Marrs was second into the checkpoint, Petit was hot on his heels coming in fifteen minutes behind Marrs but with a run time 43 minutes faster than Marrs. Both took their mandatory and are now back out on the trail (at time of writing this we don't have official times out nor how many dogs they have on the line).

Riley Dyche will be out next to join the chase pack and could play spoiler for second or third place though he will have to make up at least and hour and a half time on Marrs and Petit - not impossible, but a lofty goal. Dyche will be able to leave at 10:01pm. 

Current red lantern for the 550 is Howling Ridge Kennel's Shaynee Traska after Lauro Eklund was withdrawn from the race by Race Marshal Mike McCowen sighting rule 22 - competitiveness. Rule 22 states: "The Race Marshal shall at any time withdraw or disqualify a Musher they feel is not making a true attempt at running a competitive race or is in a position to not keep up with the race thus endangering themselves, their dogs and/or causing undue burden upon the Yukon Quest Alaska organization. The Race Marshal shall make this call based upon the condition of the team, trail and weather conditions, attitude and skill level of the musher and the pace at which the team and other teams are traveling. Any musher whose conduct, lack of skills and/or conditioning of their team to meet trail conditions which would expose the team or musher to personal risk in the judgment of the Race Marshal, shall also be withdrawn or disqualified."

Eklund was seven hours behind the next slowest team (Traska) when he reached the checkpoint of Central (inbound). Traska left shortly after he arrived and his team was in need of a break. When Lauro made it to Central the race social media posts praised him for his dog care and his speed saying in any other year with a bigger roster he'd be middle of the pack. By morning the decision was made to pull the team with the basic explanation that the race marshal found Eklund to be not competitive. 

Fans and mushers alike have shared their displeasure since the decision. Requests for further explanation were met with the press statement of rule 22. 

Sass is currently 53 miles from the Nenana checkpoint. From there he will have a six hour mandatory layover before another 55 or so miles to the finish line. Yukon Quest personnel expect a "late afternoon" finish on Wednesday for the champion.