Iditarod 47 - Top Ten

As the clock winds down ever closer to the start of the 47th Iditarod, thoughts are turning to who will become the next champion. The pool is growing larger for potential champions. Knowing who is going to take the top prize is more difficult every year. In fact, this year's top ten is really a top fifteen since I just can't seem to narrow it down further. So, yeah, I have a few honorable mentions.

Top Ten

Aliy Zirkle - SPKennel's top dawg, Zirkle is the 2000 Yukon Quest Champion who has been so close to the Iditarod Championship she could taste it. Aliy is everyone's favorite. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone - fan or competitor - who could say a bad thing about her. But enough about why we all love Aliy. She is a true dog woman. Her dogs just ran the Quest with her husband Allen Moore and gave it a good go, but tapered off during the final push. Aliy's team struggled last year during the Iditarod when a storm blew in early on in the race and she finished out of the top ten. That being said, I'm not ready to count Aliy out yet, and last year's finish might be the push she needs to come back "with a vengence".

Jeff King - King is a four-time Iditarod champion who is still gunning for another. While his fellow four-timers seem to have conceded that the race has changed since they won their races, Jeff hasn't given up on the illusive number five. King was just hours away from number five in 2014 when a storm blew him off course and he was forced to scratch. Jeff has proven that he is willing to take chances, but not ones that will do wrong by his dogs. He's an old hat at this race, and that experience comes in handy. His dogs come from a long line of champions. Everything is there to come together, the problem is that a lot of other teams have grown up studying "the winningest musher" and now he has more teams threatening to dethrone him. I was *this close* in bumping him down, but you can't count out Mr. The King.

Jessie Holmes - Many counted out the rookie last year, chalking him up as nothing more than a reality TV star, but Holmes came to play. He not only won Rookie of the Year, he broke the top ten. Jessie's got speed on his side, and he has the right kind of ego to get him to the finish in first. He definitely believes in himself and his dogs. But ego is most definitely a two edged sword and it can cloud judgement. Push too soon and the dogs will slow on the coast. They did incredibly well last year, but a storm helped a lot keeping many of the veteran teams at a slower pace. It will be interesting to see what Jessie Holmes and team will be capable of this year.

Joar Leifseth Ulsom - Can Joar repeat? Repeat wins are difficult. Even if every dog is the same, the elements and trail change from hour to hour and there is no guarantee that you will have even close to the race you had last time. Joar quickly climbed the standings in his Iditarod career, now he has to maintain. That's hard to do in any sport, and especially in dog mushing. Joar had the perfect storm blow in to help him advance to the number one spot. I don't expect Nicolas Petit to lose the trail on the Norton Sound again. If Joar wants to become a repeat champion he is going to have to stay within striking distance and have enough gas in the tank to jump out ahead when the time is right.

Matt Hall - It's kind of mind boggling that this will only be Matt's third Iditarod, but the 2017 Yukon Quest Champion has made sure to keep his name in the running for top ten. He nearly missed out on a top ten finish last year, and was on his way to a strong lead in this year's Yukon Quest when he was sidelined (by choice) waiting for a diagnosis of one of his dogs (doggie cancer sucks). Even with having to make up quite a bit of time, Hall managed a very respectable fifth place finish on one of the most difficult Quests in memory. It is completely within reason to see Matt make the top ten, and I wager he could very easily challenge for first.

Mitch Seavey - "Da Man" or "Old Man" Seavey, depending on who you talk to, has found the fountain of youth and has kept many of the young guns at bay in the last 7 years. The Three-Time Iditarod champion has proven time and again that you can teach the... once around the block... guy new tricks. Master strategist, dog man, and just all around expert - you just don't want to count him out. But, like Zirkle, Mitch can sometimes be the "weak link", but more recently he has worked to improve his athletic ability to be able to do more behind the sled than we're used to seeing. I don't expect him to pull out the tricks from Dallas's books and run sprints up mountains with the team, but don't be shocked to see Mitch not only keeping up but surpassing known fast teams. It's all about "building the monster" as they say.

Nicolas Petit - Someone is starting to gain somewhat of a comical reputation as one who is directionally challenged. Last year Petit was solidly in the lead when he took a wrong turn during the run across the Norton Sound, he lost not only valuable time, but the extra work the dogs ended up dealing with as they backtracked slowed his team. The misstep cost him the win. He's had a few misdirections in several of his mid-distance races this season. Whether it's a loss of focus, or flat out being asleep, or something else - who knows. But it doesn't take much guessing to know that Nicolas is going to run this Iditarod like he has something to prove. Expect Nicolas to get up in front early and fight hard to stay there.

Peter Kaiser - The four-time Kusko 300 champion missed out on a fifth title this season, but not for lack of trying. Kaiser managed a fifth place finish in last year's Iditarod which threw many curveballs at the teams crossing the thousand miles of Alaskan wilderness. One of the strongest Western Alaska teams, Kaiser has steadily climbed the rankings and is poised to do well yet again. It's not a matter of if Kaiser will be an Iditarod champion, it's when. His dogs have it in them, and so does he, but just like all the other champions that have gone before, everything has to go very right for them, and other teams have to have something go wrong. Kaiser has the tools.

Travis Beals - This is another pick that I went back and forth on. When Travis is on, he is very very good, other times he's middle of the pack. Beals had a decent season again this year, and looks to have a solid team. Travis did very well in last year's snowmageddon Iditarod, so one would expect it to go well again this year. He is determined, and it would not be a surprise to see him crack the top ten again.

Wade Marrs - After last year's disappointing race where he scratched on the coast, Marrs is back and should be a contender. The face of Stump Jumpin' Kennel and the former ITC Musher Board Representative, Wade is one of the most exciting "up and coming" (though after this many years, is he really still up and coming?) teams. Marrs trained with some of the best in the sport while in the junior ranks, and he's shown to be a pretty quick study when it comes to racing against some of the best in Iditarod. While using his own methods, Marrs has picked up a few tricks watching how Dallas Seavey races Iditarod, and it's no wonder his schedule seems to match up with those of the Seavey teams. It will be interesting to see how a healthy Wade matches up with the pack this go around.


Dark Horses

I couldn't stop at 10. Honestly there's at least 15 teams that could easily be top ten depending on circumstance. This is a highly competitive field and it's exciting to see. So I have been stressing all week trying to justify my picks, and I can't so I'm adding a few more who could easily make it into the top ten.

Aaron Burmeister - No stranger to Iditarod, Burmeister has knocked on the door to the title for many years now. His short-lived retirement(s) proved that he isn't quite able to give up the dogs or the lifestyle. For some, the race just gets inside them and they have to continue on. Each time Burmeister comes back, he reminds everyone just how good he is. Last year he came 12th, in 2015 he was third. He has a very good chance of breaking into the top ten again. He just has to play his cards right.

Jessie Royer - I really wanted to put her in my top ten, but something tells me this is not her year. Jessie ran the Yukon Quest earlier this month, and she had a rough go of it. Not sure if it was just the extreme negative temperatures (likely) or if this is a team rebuilding year. So I have her as a dark horse this year. I'd love for her to wreck my top ten and make a high placement (or a win), but I'm going to hedge my bets on her.

Matthew Failor - Mattew just beat out Pete Kaiser last month in the Kuskokwim 300, a race Pete pretty much owns. A former handler for four-time Iditarod Champion Martin Buser before striking out on his own with his own team of dogs. It hasn't taken him long to become a true contender. The Kusko is just the first stepping stone on the way to the top. His race this year will be fun to watch as it plays out.

Ramey Smyth - One of the best finishers in the business, you don't want to ever have a Smyth team running up behind you. Ramey has come close to beating out champions in the past, and is always knocking on the door. In so many ways it feels like he should have "Iditarod Champion" next to his name, but he hasn't quite found the magic for it to happen. Still, don't be surprised to see his name creep up the standings, especially once his team hits the coast. Then all bets are off.






Thoughts on who might take the prize this year? Who do you have in your top ten? Comment below!

Weekly Mushing News Round Up (Aug. 3)

Rob Cooke's team of Siberian Huskies at the start of the 2018 Iditarod.

We've entered into August, the final month of summer for most of Alaska; the last hurrah before training season truly begins for many sled dog teams statewide. While the summer has been sparse with news out of kennels, there was a boom this week. The Yukon Quest sign ups begin tomorrow with a big kick off on both sides of the border, and that has the mushing community buzzing with excitement. Where the Iditarod sign up seemed quiet, and the roster is still just at 30 names, it is expected that the Quest will outshine in its hoopla this year.

Puppies continue to be the name of the game this week. Many of the summer litters are quickly turning to dogs, and mushers proudly show off their pups on social media. Sarah and Travis at Turning Heads Kennel are no exception.... and they have some good looking pups that will no doubt turn into good looking super stars in the next two to three years.

Matt Hall at Smokin' Aces Kennel is looking to sign up for the 2019 Yukon Quest tomorrow morning, but the last few weeks he's been focused on putting in a new dog yard. Matt shared some of his progress on social media over the weekend.


Iditarod musher Lev Shvarts took to social media on his Team Ollie page to place a want ad for a handler for the winter season. Many kennels need help to keep the teams conditioned - just because the snow flies it doesn't mean that mushers don't have lives/jobs outside the realm of dogs. They have to find a balance to make everything work, and that typically means opening up their kennel and home to handlers (think of them as glorified interns). Many get their start in this way and work their way up to having their own dogs and kennel and racing teams through handling for other established kennels. If you're interested, it looks like the job is still available.

Four-time Yukon Quest and (consecutive) Iditarod Champion Lance Mackey made headlines again, and it's positive. Lance, as you may know, has not given up the dog life, but he has increased his need for speed and has turned a lot of his attention to car racing. While he does plan to race this season in the sprint and mid distance sled dog races, Mackey also has plans for NASCAR. That's right NASCAR. The Daily News-Miner out of Fairbanks, Alaska reported on the mushing legend this week. At some point, Mackey may have to make the difficult decision to choose one passion over the other. In some ways he may have already made his move, as he's sold off a lot of his equipment and long-distance team dogs. That being said, Mackey has been very vocal in his fight against animal rights groups like PETA who want to see the sport of mushing destroyed.

Lance Mackey's team at the start of the 2018 Tustumena 200, January 27.

The Iditarod Trail Committee announced their fifth and final new board member on Monday. The ITC selected Alaska's chief of the National Transportation and Safety Board, Clint Johnson. Johnson runs the investigations of all plane crashes in Alaska among other duties. He is admittedly not familiar with the sport, other than having attended the starts of the Iditarod and Rondy races, but says he is willing to learn about the culture the sport entails. With Clint's experience one has to wonder if there aren't significant plans for changes within the Iditarod Air Force coming with this addition to the board. The Iditarod Air Force is the volunteer group of pilots that transport equipment, people, dogs, etc. to and from the check points. They are the ones who assist in returning dogs back to Anchorage to be handed off to the handlers (these were previously called dropped dogs, dogs who for whatever reason needed to stop racing and go home before the race is over, they are now designated as "returned dogs"). There have been a few mishaps in the last couple of years, one of which resulted in dog deaths, and in the Iditarod's history there have been several planes that have crashed (non-fatal, but no less terrifying). One has to think that he will be giving some guidance on how to improve a system that after 46 years may need fresh ideas to keep flying.

Black Spruce Kennels, owned by Jeff and KattiJo Deeter, made news this week via Penny Hoarder with their kennel being highlighted as an off grid haven. Jeff is one of the youngest mushers to run Iditarod, running his rookie year back in 2008 at the tender age of 19. After taking ten years off to find his calling, Deeter returned to Iditarod running this past March and doing rather well. Jeff is once again signed up for the Last Great Race, and was one of two mushers to win their entry fee back during the June 30 sign up BBQ.


Snow Owl Sled Dog Tours announced the names of their newest sled dog team members with some super cute photos of, you guessed it, PUPPIES! And this is doubly awesome because the litter names are inspired by the Addams Family. Uh, sign me up!


Iditarod musher Lisbet Norris is throwing her hat in the ring for the 2019 Yukon Quest, this will be her rookie run. She was excited not only to share that news with followers of her page but also to show off her awesome dog truck rig. Unlike the Iditarod, handlers are allowed to help their musher within certain check points on the Quest, and with her new rig, she's able to safely run "the other thousand mile" race.

Beckie Hacker - who dreams of one day running the Iditarod and is working towards that goal - proudly showed off her new leaders in a quick update on her social media pages.

Mary Helwig had a little bit of frustration this morning as she found that one of her retired pups had decided to go into landscaping.... in her newly landscaped yard. Needless to say the pup seems pretty dang proud of himself, and she is without a lot of nice flowers and veggies.

Weekly Mushing News Round Up (July 6)

The mushing news round ups were popular last year, so I'm going to do my best to do this again. Starting much earlier this year as last year. Some mushers have already given some great tidbits into their summer and future racing plans, so let's get a run down of some of the top stories of the week.

Brent Sass broke radio silence this week to announce his return to competitive mushing. Announcing his plans to sign up for the 2019 Yukon Quest on his website, Sass said the break during the 2018 season was just what he and his team needed. Sass had a rough couple of race years with a disqualification in the 2015 Iditarod after he used a piece of technology that in that race year was a banned tool (two way communication technology is now allowed). Sass again had trouble in 2016 when he pushed his dogs a little too hard in his attempt to win the Last Great Race, his team stalled in White Mountain. Sass went on to come in 20th. In 2017 Sass scratched from the Yukon Quest just 150 miles from the finish when two of his dogs collapsed, reportedly without warning. Sass believed it was due to a genetic issue within his team's bloodlines. He withdrew from Iditarod and seemingly disappeared from the racing scene. It will be interesting to see if the Quest Champion will be able to rebound from his unlucky streak.

Matt Failor announced on his team's facebook page that he would have a second string of dogs running in Iditarod under the careful guide of Michael Baker. Baker first ran the Iditarod in 2017, and is returning to run again. This brings the roster of Iditarod mushers up to 29 for the 2019 race. Baker placed 58th in his Iditarod rookie run.

Paul Gebhardt is still recovering from his battle with cancer - and all news has been positive on that front. Gebhardt was diagnosed less than a year ago, missed the racing season, and let most of his team be leased to other mushers - specifically Ray Redington. Gebhardt underwent Stem Cell treatment in early spring, and is now back on the Kenai Peninsula working at the kennel and at his construction business. On July 4th his kennel posted a quick update on their facebook page.


Speaking of the Fourth of July, the annual Mt Marathon race in Seward, Alaska saw several mushers (current and former) hit the trail. Dallas Seavey, Travis Beals, Conway Seavey all ran the course, as well as Tekla Seavey - who, okay, isn't a musher but she married into mushing "royalty"... and she beat Dallas and Conway's times so... I had to rub it in. Girl power!


Jeff Deeter gave a look into life off grid last week (and since I didn't do a news round up last week, I'm going to share this one here). Deeter was one of two mushers who won their entry fee back at the Iditarod sign ups last Saturday, so I'm sure it will go to good use around the kennel in other ways.



The Yukon Quest is gearing up for their musher sign ups. The kick off is August 4th on both sides of the border. Check out their facebook page and website for full details.

Blair Braverman, who last week signed up for her rookie run on the Iditarod, shares a lot of great glimpses into kennel life on twitter, and one of the most heartwarming was most definitely her "bedtime story for sled dog pups" that she gave July 5. Be sure to click the link and follow the thread. You won't regret it.

Once upon a time, I told them, there were some very good puppies. They had a grandfather named Hari, and Hari was magic. pic.twitter.com/n72bAnjKMq

— Blair Braverman (@BlairBraverman) July 6, 2018

Iditarod 46: My Top 10

I had so many goals for this season in making sure my blog kept going and had great insights into what we were seeing in the sport - I got massively sidetracked with vacation, work, and the Olympics. Oooo shiny! is my theme so far for this year it seems.

That being said, it IS time for me to make horrible guesses as to who has the best chance to be named champion of the 46th running of the race. I feel like the race should be two weeks out, not less than a week (Thursday is the Musher's banquet). So, this is what it is. I think I did fairly well... 8 of my picks made the top 10 and the who who didn't came in 11th and 12th. Go me! I expect I won't have quite the same success this year, but I'm hopeful that my picks are fairly accurate.

My list is once again alphabetical by first name as I don't want to try and talk percentages in who's most likely to take first.

Aaron Burmeister - Aaron last raced three years ago in 2015. Since then he's been key in some of the rule changes we've seen handed down by the ITC Board. I'll try to stay neutral about all of that, but Burmeister's team has seen action while he's been "retired". Aaron's team has been run in the Iditarod by his brother Noah (is my understanding, comment below if I am wrong). Aaron came in third in his last Iditarod race, and I don't expect him to be too far off the pack this time around either. It will be interesting to see just how he stacks up with this year's roster.

Aliy Zirkle - Her husband Allen Moore just won the Yukon Quest with essentially the team she will take to Nome. This is how they've done things for a while. He runs the A team in the Quest, Aliy runs it in the Iditarod. Zirkle typically runs the YQ300 with the B team that Moore then takes on Iditarod. Zirkle did not run the shorter Quest this year as she was unable to plan a race that would be fast enough for her to then head for Dawson to meet up with Allen and the Red Team. I've said it the last few times, but really, the weak link on this team seems to be Aliy. I hate saying that, but sometimes she gets too in her head and she plays it safe at just the wrong time. I do feel, though, that if the Red team is that much faster than the Black team that she may have a freight train heading to Nome.

Jeff King - The four-time Iditarod Champion is still looking for number five. He's come close in the last decade or so, but after his brief retirement he hasn't been able to make it happen. He's come close, but teams are starting to pass him. Is it age? Well, Mitch Seavey's proven old dogs can still win this thing. Is it strategy? It could be, what won races even 10 years ago doesn't work these days it seems. King was out of the top ten last year, but just barely (he came in eleventh). Whatever placement he gets, however, we're sure to have an entertaining time watching him run his team. I'm not so secretly hoping he can tie Swenson's record.

Jessie Royer - My girl Royer. What can I say? She came fifth last year, a year that saw a lot of women shaking up the racing scene. She's had a fairly good season again this year, and I don't expect that she plans to sit back and relax this year. Jessie's steadily gotten better, and she's a true veteran of this trail. I believe that Jessie should be the top ranked lady musher coming into the race. Yes, I said it. As I said last year: Should she pull off a win, it'd be an upset, but she'd also become the first non-Alaskan woman to win. She's got the goods, she could pull it off.

Joar Leifseth Ulsom - I know, I fan girl over his face every year, but seriously. I feel like he is constantly posing when he's on those runners! All jokes aside, Joar is not a joke. He was fourth last year. Fourth. It was a fast race from Fairbanks to Nome in 2017. Joar came in to a roaring crowd in Nome (I missed it, how I don't know, but I did...I blame exhaustion). Joar is one of those "silent teams". He's got the goods, but very rarely does he really make the conversation by the folks "in the know". It's probably how he likes it, he can just sneak in. Maybe he'll sneak in first to Nome?

Mitch Seavey - The THREE-time and defending champion shows no signs of slowing down. Mitch won last year's race in record time with a team he says he could not slow down. They flew into Nome wowing everyone with their endurance and strength. Mitch had never seemed happier with a team, and I hear many of his team from last year were in the running to make this year's team. Seavey spent most of his time further north of his stomping grounds training, and he skipped the Tustumena 200 this year opting to keep with his training schedule. I never count Mitch out, but without Dallas Seavey in the race to compete against during training and the race, it will be interesting to see Mitch's style and strategy. Can this be a year for Mitch to hit a fourth win? I'm hoping if Jeff can't take it that Mitch can.

Nicolas Petit - The only races this guy hasn't won this season are the ones he didn't enter. Petit is hungry. He came in a controversial third place in last year's race (minutes behind Dallas Seavey who accidentally left his vet book at a previous checkpoint, but Nic brought it to the finish and allowed Dallas to stay in the race). I do not expect for Petit to accept anything but first, this could mean that he makes some risky decisions (risky race wise, not life threatening). I expect him to push his team hard, they've trained and raced that way for several years now. Petit will rise or he will fall hard. There doesn't seem to be an in between.

Pete Kaiser - Pete just won yet another Kusko 300. They had some issues with trail this year with warmer temps keeping a lot of the race from the river. From the sound of things, the race on the coast for Iditarod will be very similar. Kaiser is a solid team, and last year came 9th. He's always in the conversation, as he should be. He knows what it takes to win, he just has to put his team in a position to make a move.

Travis Beals - I have been sitting here for a few hours trying to decide if Travis should be on this list or if I should go with a Redington. I'm still not sure I chose correctly, but Travis does seem to have a strong team this year. Beals had to take some time off from Iditarod after he was banned from the race for domestic violence "issues" that he had to work through. Beals followed court orders, and jumped through all of the hoops, which satisfied the race officials to allow him to participate in this year's race. Travis comes from solid family tradition in mushing and turned heads early on his career (hence his kennel's name "Turning Heads"). Travis did not take time off from training dogs while satisfying court requirements, and I expect him to have a good showing in this year's race.

Wade Marrs - He set the pace last year and man, he almost had it. It was exciting to watch Wade race against the Seavey's with their own game! He's no doubt learned a lot from that and I expect him to not make the same "mistakes" twice. He's also had a really nice racing and training season, and seems very confident. Where he might have had some distraction was having to be the face and spokesperson for the Iditarod Finisher's Club in regards to the Doping ruling on Dallas Seavey and what all that drama entailed. In a week he'll be able to let go of distraction and just mush. He'll be pushing.




Honorable Mentions:

Gonna go with Ray Redington Jr on this one, he placed very well last year (in the top ten) and has been very hot on the racing circuit this season. I'll also give Ramey Smyth another chance, he should always be in the conversation. He was in my top 10 last season and came in 12th. Not bad.


Which mushers do YOU have in YOUR top 10? Who are you cheering for? Agree/Disagree with my picks? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and check back as I continue to blog about the 45th running of the Last Great Race!

Mushing News Weekly Round Up (Dec 8)

With the advent of social media, it's a whole lot easier for fans to immerse themselves into the mushing world. It's also easy to miss a lot of the interesting and newsworthy stuff as it seems to become overloaded in the weeks leading up to race season. Training reports begin as the leaves fall from the trees, and then almost over night the snow hits the rosters are finalized and we're in the middle of race season.

So a new feature here on Reitter's Block starting this week is a sort of weekly round up of news, and interesting stories from the mushing community. These will be selection that caught my eye, and in no way everything that happened within the week.



In response to the Iditarod Trail Committee's announcement on December 1 about their plan to come up with a standard of "Dog Care" for kennels to be eligible to compete, Iditarod Veteran Wade Marrs took to his website to share his thoughts. While, overall, Wade is supportive of the idea - he wanted to voice some concerns he had. It is equally a response to another kennel that has created a lot of drama since October when they decided to try and promote themselves as the kennel/people all mushers wish they could be like.

SP Kennel (Home of Aliy Zirkle and Allen Moore) shared an adorable update on their trio of pups. It's not really news worthy, but it's adorable, and there's video. What more does a mushing fan need than a puppy cam?!

Monday brought the amusing with the report that Jeff King was auctioned off during the Talkeetna Bachelor Auction, and brought in a whopping $4,600! King is thought to be the first Iditarod Champion (and certainly IS the only 4-time Champion) auctioned off at the event. Known as one of the larger than life mushers, it should come as no surprise that Jeff was up for something like this. But it was still amusing to read. Much better than the articles showing the mushing community up in arms.

And, just today, Monica Zappa took to Facebook to announce that the 2018 Iditarod will be her last "for a while" as she needs to go off on new adventures. Iditarod will be far less colorful without her neon colors out on the trail. So when you see her run down the trail this March, cheer extra hard for her!

Speaking of Facebook - my favorites on the social media round up:

Someone tell this race to SLOW DOWN!

Robert Redington coming to the finish
of the Ceremonial Start of Iditarod 44.
March 5, 2016

I'm pretty sure I say it every year that the race is faster than ever before - I think this year that's partially due to my traveling home on Monday instead of our normal schedule of heading home directly from the ReStart. It might make for a less exhausting day for us, but man I felt VERY out of the loop and I've been playing catch up ever since!

The leading teams are on their way to Cripple - go figure, Dallas Seavey has lead the charge - but the race IS slowing down as many teams are declaring their 24. I'm assuming Seavey the Younger will take his in Cripple. Seavey the Older lead the charge into Takotna last night, and it looks like he's declared his 24, but Team Seavey for me is hard to predict even when they're being predictable.

This race has been more about mushers being sick, than injured dogs or sick teams. Dogs are hardy, but mushers are quickly becoming their team's weak link. Wade Marrs and Dallas Seavey both started the race with the same crud that's walloped many people this winter. But this is the Iditarod - sick or not, they're going to run. Wade is taking his 24 in McGrath. He's ahead of schedule, and had planned to stop in McGrath, but judging by how he sounds and looks in the Insider video he's the one that really needs the rest.

Lance Mackey is doing better than a lot of fans expected. After last year's race where he had so much trouble with dogs and his body failing, most speculated he would be done (including Lance himself). But a "new team of dogs, new girlfriend, and new sponsors" seem to have rejuvenated the once deflated musher. He's been upbeat and positive in the Insider videos, but maybe that's because of the grape flavored energy drinks.

Travis Beals seems to be having a less than stellar run right now, in his latest video he comments that the team is young and he just wants to see what they can do. He later says that they aren't quite where he wants them to be - but that the Gorge was much better than he remembered from two years ago. Sweetest part was that while the Insider was quizzing him about his team and their run, Travis was thinking of those behind him - especially his partner Sarah Stokey. I think the two of them will win the Iditarod AWWWWWW award when all is said and done.

Anywho, just felt like checking in - as I have neglected to blog through this thing. Next year I will demand an internet connection for Sunday. I may also break the rules and drink Dr. Pepper all weekend so that I can stay up all night. Having a 9-5 job has also made following this race difficult. /whine

Mitch Seavey giving out high fives as he comes to the finish
of the Ceremonial Start of Iditarod 44. March 5, 2016.