Redington still leading the Iditarod

Fans woke up and frantically checked the tracker (if they slept at all and didn't just will those little flags to move all night) this morning to find Ryan Redington maintaining a three mile lead over Peter Kaiser as the teams ran to Elim. Both had spent about three and a half hours in the checkpoint of Koyuk in the wee hours of the morning. Kaiser has a slightly faster team and has eaten up several minutes in each run from Unalakleet, what was a six mile lead last night is now only a three mile lead.

Redington reached the checkpoint of Elim checking in at 8:35am, Kaiser is making his way into the checkpoint now and it will be interesting to see if he's gained any time on the legacy musher. GPS shows Ryan as moving out of Elim though the current standings do not show him leaving (updates sometimes take time). It's 46 miles to White Mountain and their final mandatory 8 hour rest. It could be that both teams decide to make the run from Koyuk to White Mountain without stopping (a "monster" run at 88 miles). 

Depending on how the teams fare on the run to White Mountain we'll either have a clear favorite to win, or we'll be seeing them in some sort of ski pole duel down Front Street Tuesday afternoon.

Mushing Radio: The Third Third of the Race

 

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Redington rests in Shaktoolik as Kaiser, Diehl draw closer

Ryan Redington had an impressive 5 hours and 13 minute run time from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik before apparently taking a break in the checkpoint on the edge of the Norton Sound. Redington had nearly an hour lead over the next team of Peter Kaiser, but now as Ryan sits just about a half hour into his break in Shaktoolik, Pete is coming into the checkpoint. There are no live feeds in Shaktoolik so we have no real idea of how teams are looking as they come into a very windy run to then head back out into even stronger winds.

Speaking of wind, they expect a steady 25mph wind leaving Shaktoolik according to the morning report by Greg Heister and Bruce Lee. That isn't the most terrible weather we've seen in this stretch, but hard cold wind gets to even the most hardened of dog teams. The Norton Sound sea ice is still the trail they are planning to run, though yesterday there was concern about open water that does not seem to be the case today.

Both Kaiser and Redington will need a little bit of rest at the very least for the dogs to recover from their runs. Kaiser has just rolled into the checkpoint and Richie Diehl will be into Shak soon. If Ryan can keep his speed, he most likely has this race and Peter seems to have second in the bag in this case. Mushers like Bruce Lee and Dallas Seavey aren't counting Peter Kaiser out for the win, though, as both have been extremely impressed with how Kaiser Racing dogs look in Unalakleet.

The race. is. on.

We have a dog race

We've reached the West Coast of Alaska and you know what that means - the race is on! Ryan Redington chose to run the 85 miles from Kaltag to Unalakleet in one long run keeping his lead gained on the run from Eagle Island to Kaltag. Redington stayed in Unalakleet (his mother's "hometown") for just shy of four hours before heading to Shaktoolik Sunday morning. That's right, folks, a Redington is in command of the race... for now.

Pete Kaiser and Richie Diehl have kept pace with the lead pack from day one, and with their race strategy both are in good position to make a push on the Coast. This is their kind of trail as they are from the Coast (just a little further south as Barb Redington likes to point out). The famed winds are an every day no big deal thing for their teams and they thrive on the third leg of the race.

The weather looks... calm... for the front runners. Sure, there's the ever brutal wind, but they don't expect any snow storms or ground storms to wreak havoc on the leaders. There's still no word on trail conditions out of Shaktoolik, just that they expect some heavy wind (but when is that not expected) at a steady 25mph. The wind could play a factor as many sled dogs dislike running into the wind (does anyone?) and it could stall a team if they aren't on their game.

Richie Diehl just blew through Unalakleet chasing down his best friend and competitor Pete Kaiser. Both are hoping to keep within range to take the lead if Redington falters. The best chance of that is the run out of Shaktoolik. Redington is in somewhat unknown territory - he's never led this part of the Iditarod - but he's got an entire family's history worth of knowledge on the race his Grandfather started. As long as he can stay focused on his race and his dogs and not panic or focus on what the others are doing we could finally see what the entire IditaFandom has wanted to see since the beginning - a Redington just might take this race.

Mushing Radio: The Champ Scratches

Join hosts Robert Forto Toni Reitter and Michele Forto as they discuss the 2022 Champ, Brent Sass scratching, and much more on this episode of the Iditarod 2023 podcast.

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Ryan Redington first to Kaltag

Ryan Redington and his team of twelve dogs were first off the Yukon River and into the checkpoint of Kaltag a little before 1pm Saturday. The third generation Iditarod musher parked his dogs and quickly went to watering/feeding and bedding down his team before meeting with the Bristol Bay Native Corporation to receive the Fish First Award given to the first team off the Yukon. Ryan recieves $2000 and 25lbs of Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon (to be delivered this summer).

Iditarod released the statement:

"Iditarod musher Ryan Redington  (bib #5), of Knik, Alaska is the first musher to arrive at the Kaltag checkpoint at 12:47 pm with 12 dogs in harness.  

In doing so, Redington claims the Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award.   BBNC employee and shareholder Christine Brandon traveled to Kaltag to present the award, which consists of 25 pounds of fresh Bristol Bay  salmon filets, $2,000 and a wood burned art piece by BBNC shareholder artist Apay’uq Moore. 

“Bristol Bay Native Corporation congratulates Ryan and his team for a great race so far and for being the first into Kaltag,” said Jason Metrokin, BBNC President and CEO. “Both dog mushing and fishing are longstanding traditions in Bristol Bay, and we’re excited to honor both with the annual Fish First Award. We wish Ryan the best of luck and hope they enjoy the taste of Bristol Bay this summer.”

Bristol Bay is home to the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery. BBNC has endorsed a  Fish First value for land and resource management in Bristol Bay. In all land management and  resource development decisions, adequate protections for fish and fish habitat will always be a  priority."

Soon after Ryan bedded his team down, Richie Diehl came into the checkpoint and is now parked beside Redington. Eyes are on the tracker and live feeds as Pete Kaiser should make his way into the checkpoint in the next few minutes.

Brent Sass scratches from Iditarod in Eagle Island

Fans learned this morning in a hasty live feed on The Iditarod Facebook Page from Greg Heister that reigning champ Brent Sass had scratched from the race due to "some type of infection where he felt he could not care for his team the way he needed." Heister went on to report that the race was trying to get a plane to Eagle Island to pick up the veteran musher and fly him to Unalakleet for treatment. 

At around 8:40am The Iditarod released an official statement on the scratch:

"Veteran musher and 2022 Iditarod Champion, Brent Sass (bib #14), of Eureka, Alaska,  scratched at 7:42 a.m. today at the Eagle Island checkpoint as he didn’t feel he could care for his team due to current concerns with his periodontal health.

Sass had 11 dogs in harness when he arrived in Eagle Island, all in good health."

Thankfully dogs don't really care if they finish a race, and they no doubt are being treated like the good dogs they are. We wish Brent a speedy recovery.

Mushing Radio: The Mighty Yukon River

Join hosts Robert Forto Toni Reitter and Michele Forto as they talk about the Might Yukon River and much more on tonights Iditraod podcast 

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Made it to the Yukon

Jessie Holmes and team during the Ceremonial
Start of Iditarod 51. March 4, 2023.
Anchorage, Alaska.

Jessie Holmes was first to the Yukon this morning and his five course meal from new race sponsor the Marx Bros Cafe. Holmes chose to take his mandatory 8 hour rest on the Yukon in Anvik to fully enjoy his meal and give his dogs as much rest as possible before heading down the river where reports of overflow were the talk of much of the day. 

As the front pack hit the mighty river, many chose to take their 8 relatively early in the first two checkpoints of Anvik and Grayling. The middle of the pack were all out of the checkpoint of Iditarod and on their way to Shageluk and Anvik, while the back of the pack finished up their rests in the checkpoint to hit the trail this evening. Only Gregg Vitello remains on his way to Iditarod where concern grows that he will be cutting his race short by way of race withdrawal being deemed non-competitive. Time will tell if things improve for the rookie.

In Grayling, Iditarod veteran and Kusko Champ Richie Diehl was surprised by his family as he pulled into the checkpoint. Declaring his mandatory 8 the very tired musher spent time with his partner and their new baby boy which was no doubt the perfect morale boost for the musher. Diehl has run the majority of his race alongside best friend and competitor Pete Kaiser and both teams are poised to make a move as they get closer to their "home turf". Both left Grayling as the sun was setting Friday chasing after Jessie Holmes, Brent Sass, and Nicolas Petit.

Speaking of Petit, he is "very happy" with how his team looks and it seems that Petit is trying to play around with some semblance of strategy. He isn't just burning up trail, took his mandatory rests early, and has been giving the team more rest. Petit says HE'S the one doing more sleeping and that's why, but maybe - just maybe - he's listening to those that have told him to have at least the outline of a game plan.

Brent Sass is currently leading, being the only team to have made it to Eagle Island close to 9:30pm according to the trackers. Eagle Island is one of the most remote checkpoints and it is hard to get information in and out quickly - you won't see Insider broadcasting live from the little spit of land growing out of the Yukon River. This is the first time in a long time Iditarod has even had a working checkpoint here as in 2019 weather kept them from being able to get the drop bags and other infrastructure to the Island. 

Of the front runners, only Brent Sass has yet to take his 8 - which he will have to take in Kaltag if he doesn't stay on Eagle Island as it is the last checkpoint on the river. Eagle Island seems more Brent's speed as it's far less busy and noisy than that of the village checkpoints. In the chase pack, Kelly Maixner, Mille Porsild, and Christian Turner are all still needing their 8. 

The top rookies are still showing strong with Eddie Burke and Hunter Keefe battling for not only that top ten finish (Burke is currently 10th, Keefe 11th) but that coveted Rookie of the Year. KattiJo Deeter is also hanging out in the top fifteen which is a huge improvement from last year when she was running her kennel's younger team as her husband ran the a-team. She didn't have to share this year and other than her broken sled issues in Rainy Pass, Deeter has shown just how tough she is. 

Tomorrow will be a race for the Coast and then from there on out the finish order will shake out as teams shed all extra weight to run up the coast to Nome. The teams are so close together still it's not quite for certain just who, if any, will truly break away from the rest. Don't plan on cat napping much from here on out - at least not until they reach White Mountain. 

Mushing Radio: Takotna Pies

Join hosts Robert Forto Michele Forto and Toni Reitter as we discuss the famous Takotna pies,
24 hour rests and much more on our Iditarod show. 

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