Crow Village Iditarod Blog

Glenn Lockwood puts out the red lantern Photo by Chas St. George

Back in the days when dog sled teams played an important role in transporting freight and mail through the remote stretches of Alaska, mushers relied on a series of roadhouses between their village destinations. Word was sent ahead to the roadhouses that a musher and team were on the trail, and a kerosene lamp was lit and hung outside the roadhouse. This served to help the dog driver find his destination at night, and served as a signal that a team or teams were somewhere out on the trail. The lamp was not extinguished until the musher safelyreached his destination. Beginning in 1986, the Iditarod honored that tradition by hanging a "Red Lantern," as it is known today, on the burl arch in Nome. Each year the lantern is lit at the beginning of the race and hung on the finish line, and remains lit while there are still teams on the trail. Once the last team crosses the line, (s)he then extinguishes the lantern, signifying the official end of the race. Thus, the last musher in a race is called the "Red Lantern" musher. Musher Glenn Lockwood guided his team under the burl arch Tuesday at 8:09 am after spending 15 days and 18 hours on the trail, and ceremoniously extinguished the red lantern. He was the last of a record 71 teams to finish this year's race, however he was not alone. Musher Steve Madson guided his team through the arch a scant one minute and 30 seconds earlier. Lockwood's valiant effort to pass Madson who had overtaken Lockwood by taking shorter rest at the Safety checkpoint fell just short. All told, 6 teams crossed the finish line on Tuesday. The finishing time for any one of them would have been good enough to eclipse the winning time of Rick Swenson in the 1977 race.

Iditarod: 4 Kings beats a full house

Jeff King won his fourth Iditarod race today against arguably the strongest field ever. His winning time for the 1100 mile dog race was 9 days 11 hours and 11 minutes which ranks as 7th fastest all time. As Doug Swingley makes his way to the finish for second place, there are 4 more teams behind him who could finish faster then last year's winning time. They are in order, Paul Gebhardt, DeeDee Jonrowe, John Baker, and Bjornar Andersen. Leading candidates for rookie of the year award are the husband and wife team of Tore Albrigtsen and Tove Sorensen from Tromso Norway who are currently in 22nd and 23rd place at the Elim checkpoint. Legally blind musher Rachael Scdoris and Tim Osmar her visual interpreter have checked into Unalakleet and will soon be making their way up the coast. Holland's first Iditarod musher Ben Valks is bringing up the rear of the pack having checked into Galena. The last racer who finishes wins the Red Lantern award. Surprising everyone with a remarkable "puppy" team is Sonny Lindner who is putting in his mandatory 8 hour layover at White Mountain in 14th place with a 14 dog team. Puppy teams are typically composed of 2 and 3 year old dogs running their first Iditarod as their mushers are trying to season them for a more competitive Iditarod run in the future.

Iditarod 3rd place up for grabs

Jeff King has solidified his first place lead with a 4 hour lead over Doug Swingley, and Swingley holds a 2 hour edge over his closest chaser. With less then 100 miles left on the 1112 mile course the race for 3rd place is heating up. There could be as many as 4 teams in contention for that spot. DeeDee Jonrowe holds the edge right now with a 6 minute lead she has wrestled back from Paul Gebhardt but trailing not too far back are Aliy Zirkle and John Baker. Baker seems to hold the edge on speed right now, but how much the mushers decide to rest their teams comes into play as well. At this point in the race, cutting rest will cut speed, and Jonrowe's team has the most rest in the "bank" at this point. Gebhardt has the least. Gebhardt, Jonrowe, and Zirkle left the Koyuk checkpoint within 10 minutes of each other, and Baker left an hour later. Gebhardt, Jonrowe and Baker eachtook about 6 hours rest at the checkpoint, and Zirkle limited her rest there to nine minutes. All teams are required to take an 8 hour layover at White Mountain, so teams will try to get there as quickly as practical. The distance from Koyuk to White Mountain is 94 miles with the Elim and Golovin checkpoints on the way. That distance can be covered in one go if a team has plenty of rest in the bank. Jonrowe has already chosen to rest 1.5 hours at Elim, and Gebhardt is still resting there. Baker could make the run without rest, but that move would cost him some speed. We will have to see. Zirkle will likely rest somewhere since that has been her pattern the whole race, and she skipped rest at Shaktoolik. I think the order coming into White mountain will be Jonrowe, Baker, Gebhardt, then Zirkle, but we shall see. After the 8 hour rest, it is a 94 mile sprint to the finish line in Nome, since teams seldom take much rest over that stretch after the 8 hour layover. Depending on how tightly packed they are and thespeed differential, there could be some changing of position over that leg. We will see.

Gebhardt makes his move

Paul Gebhardt Photo by Jeff Schultz

As race leader Jeff King pulls into Koyuk with a 2:45 lead over Doug Swingley we find a new challenger 2nd place - Paul Gebhardt. Gebhardt has had a remarkable and surprising race. Early on, he was in 19th position checking into Rohn, and while those in front of him rested, he bolted out and somewhere on the long stretch into Nikolai found himself in the lead, but we didn't know it at the time since it was between checkpoints. Then he ran into a tree, and his team got away. As Doug Swingley came by, he was able to catch a ride on his sled for a few miles until they ran into some snowmobilers who helped Gebhardt chase down his team. Swingley then took charge of the race. That whole episode cost Gebhardt 3 hours he figures, and it shook him up a bit. After recharging in Nikolai, his team and him rediscovered their passion, and charged towards the front again. When Swingley decided to take his 24 hour layover at Cripple, Gerhardt decided to charge on through resting there only 5 hours. He was first to Ruby to claim the prize for first team to the Yukon river which included a 7 course meal. That meal must have re-charged him. He opted not to 24 there but instead proceeded to Galena where he would finally take his 24. As he sat, teams came by one by one, and when he finished the 24, he found himself in 16th place checking out 12 hours after the leader. The 24 must have recharged him again. He skipped rest at Nulato and checked into Kaltag in 4th place. His 8 hour rest there would move him back to 10th, and he checked into Unalakleet in 4th. Once again he would rest long checking out in 6th, but he would skip rest again at Shaktoolik and check out there in 3rd place a mere 41 minutes behind the guy who helped save him earlier - Doug Swingley. Swingley beat Gebhardt to Koyuk (as of now, Gebhardt has not showed up there), and one would expect Gebhardt to rest long again Koyuk, but it would not be surprising to see Gebhardt skip rest at Elim and Golovin to do the 94 mile stretch to White Mountain in one go. If he were to do that, he could find himself in second place. If Jeff King continues on his pace, Gebhardt will not be able to challenge him, but that is not a given.

King opens Iditarod lead

Jeff King has increased his lead to 3 hours over Doug Swingley on the departure from the Shaktoolik checkpoint as Swingley appears to be increasing rest periods for his team. However that lead is not safe given the on-going blizzard conditions along the Bering Sea coast with winds gusting over 30 mph. Both King and Swingley had incidents on the journey into Unalakleet that could have cost them significant time but didn't. They may not be so lucky the next time. Roxy Wright had a chance to interview both at Unalakleet, so be sure to check that out at dogyard.ramybrooks.com. If either should falter, DeeDee Jonrowe has solidified her position as the number 3 team. Behind her is a pack of 3 very good teams in very close proximity - Bjornar Andersen, John Baker, an Paul Gebhardt.

Leaders head to Unalakleet - blizzard awaits

Jeff King was the first musher to leave Kaltag the last checkpoint on the Yukon river shortly after midnight. 35 minutes later Doug Swingley left in hot pursuit. Swingley has erased 3 hours of the substantial lead King had built up since Ruby by traveling faster and cutting rest. Another 2.5 hours back are DeeDee Jonrowe and Aliy Zirkle. Zirkle cut rest at Kaltag, and will likely get caught by a large group of mushers who have been trailing the leaders by some 8 hours. The weather in Kaltag is not good with the temperature hovering around zero and a 15-20 mile an hour wind. From here the trail follows the Kaltag portage for 90 miles over the coastal mountains into Unalakleet on the coast where the weather is decidedly worse. The temperature in Unalakleet is also hovering around zero, but the wind is coming out of the east at 30 mph. Those are miserable conditions for the dogs and mushers alike. Teams will have to stop often, maybe wait for better conditions, and could get lost. This makes for a very unpredictable outcome, so while it appears either King or Swingley will win, and Jonrowe is set up for third, many other outcomes are possible as well with over 250 miles left in the race.

King on record pace - Swingley and Seavey close in

Jeff King continues to lead the Iditarod and has put himself in position to break the time record. He checked into Nulato at 9:19 this morning which is 6 days 16 hours after he started the race in Willow. On Martin Buser record setting run in 2002 he reached the Nulato checkpoint in 6 days 18 hours. King still hasn't sewed up the victory however. After a 3 hour 47 minute rest, he checked out of Nulato, however checking out of Nulato 20 minutes later was Doug Swingley. Swingley's team is running faster then King's and now he seems to be cutting some rest. Swingley was 3:30 behind King checking into Galena however, King rested there 5:50, and Swingley only stayed 4:30. King made the 52 mile run from Galena to Nulato in 5:51 but Swingley made it in 5:04. King rested in Nulato 3:47 however Swingley rested on:31. If Swingley chooses not to rest on the 42 mile jaunt to Kaltag and continues at the same pace, he will pass king by Kaltag. Both will certainly take a good rest there before heading out over the pass from the Yukon river to the Coast. Mitch Seavey has surprisingly jumped into the mix, and is now running in 3rd place. Mitch cut rest at Galena, so he will likely have to make that up sometime before Kaltag, but he left that checkpoint 8 minutes after Swingley, so if either King or Swingley's team start to falter, or the weather turns, it could very well be his race to win. Stay tuned...

King maintains Iditarod lead

Frosted Jeff King at Ruby Photo by Tony Wright

As the lead teams start racing down the Yukon river, Jeff King has maintained his lead over his closest pursuer, Doug Swingley. Temperatures have warmed up some to a balmy minus 25. King checked into the Galena checkpoint 3.5 hours ahead of Swingley. Swingley is hoping that King has pushed his team too hard and he will catch them when they start to slow on the coast. Paul Gebhardt who had been leading in the standings due to the fact he hasn't taken his 24 hour layover, has finally decided to take that layover in Galena, so when King checked out of Galena, he officially became the rac leader for the first time. DeeDee Jonrowe, John Baker and Aliy Zirkle have also checked into Galena and will likely leave that checkpoint in 3rd, 4th and 5th. Jonrowe is happy with her position. Baker thinks he may try to make a move once they reach the coast. Zirkle is right on her "A" schedule, but doesn't think her team has the speed to catch anyone on the coast - only maintain pace.

Iditarod weather gets COLD!

Doug Swingley at Takotna Photo by Robert Sørley

Brrrrr! After 5 days of warm weather it is minus 34 Fahrenheit this morning in Ruby. This will certainly change the dynamics of the race. The trail which had bee soft to this point is now hard and fast. Dogs will be using more calories to stay warm and need to be watched closely. Mushers who are all bundled up may not even realize how cold it is. Alaskan musher Jeff King who won the Kuskokwim 300 this year in temperatures that often dipped below minus 40 know this all too well. "I don't have a thermometer that measures below minus 40." he complained. That experience should benefit him will though. He is racing with Montana musher Doug Swingley for the lead. Neither Swingley or his team have seen these cold temperatures this year. King pulled ahead of Swingley last night leaving the Cripple checkpoint 4 hours before Swingley would finish his 24 hour layover. King has posted some fast times since his 24 racing the 85 miles from Takotna to Cripple non-stop in 10 hours. It took Swingley 16 hours to complete that distance. Two more Alaskan mushers who know something about the cold weather are Aliy Zirkle and DeeDee Jonrowe. Aliy completed in the Kuskokwim 300, and DeeDee has 3 Alaska mid-distance races under her belt this year. DeeDee should have finished her 24 at Cripple at 4:37 this morning, although the stats still show she has not checked out yet. Maybe the stats are frozen too? Aliy Zirkle who has been lagging King since Takota by 2.5 hours should have been through the Cripple checkpoint by now.

Iditarod departure times from Cripple

Jeff King applies salve Photo by Marc Lester

UPDATE: The Iditarod race results now show Jeff King arrived at Cripple at 2:45 pm. Wow! He will certainly rest but he has 12 hours before Doug Swingley can come off his 24 hour layover at Cripple. We'll be watching closely to see when Aliy Zirkle arrives. She may well move into second place if she is running a similar pace to King.

Paul Gebhardt has resumed the lead in the Iditarod departing the Cripple checkpoint first at 1:48 pm after a 5.5 hour rest there. He has yet to take his mandatory 24 hour layover however. So far the trail in this year's Iditarod race has been soft because of warm weather and recent snow fall. That has meant slower times and less injuries for the dogs. That all changed last night when the temperature dropped to 40 below at Cripple. Those who decided to take their 24 hour layover's early should benefit from this. They would be able to travel the same sections of trail already traveled by teams opting to layover farther in the course at a faster speed. Two factors combine to make the trail firm up - traffic by the snowmobile trailbreakers and dog teams, and cold weather. The combination of these 2 should have produced a fast trail today between Takotna and Cripple. We are now starting to see proof of this. Teams who chose to layover at Takotna are posting 20% faster run times. Jeff King was the first to leave Takotna with the layover complete. He could reach Cripple by 7:30 pm tonight. Assuming he takes a 6 hour rest, he could depart at 2 am. Doug Swingley arrived at Cripple first and will come off his 24 hour layover at 2:47 am tomorrow. Aliy Zirkle who completed her 24 at Takotna could arrive at Cripple by 10 pm. With a 6 hour rest she would depart at 4 am. DeeDee Jonrowe comes off her 24 at Cripple at 4:37 am. So with the exception of Gebhardt who will statistically be in the lead until he stops for the 24, that is how we see the leader board tomorrow - 1) King, 2) Swingley, 3) Zirkle, and 4) Jonrowe with a 2.5 hour spread from 1st to 4th. This should get exciting

Iditarod halfway point

DeeDee chats with Susan Butcher (2004) Photo by Al Grillo

UPDATE: The checkpoint stats have now been corrected to show DeeDee Jonrowe checking into Cripple at 2:51 this morning 2 hours and 42 minutes behind Doug Swingley. She appears to have made up some time on him since Takotna where she checked in 3 hours and 25 minutes behind him. Jonrowe's start differential delta with Swingley is 52 minutes, so in theory she is within 2 hours of the lead. According to our earlier calculations based on times into Takotna, she is battling for 3rd place with Aliy Zirkle. The stats also show that Christoph Harisberger running Martin Buser's second team checked out of takotna with his 24 hour layover complete. That is incorrect - he has yet to take his 24.

Doug Swingley has reached the halfway point at Cripple, and other teams have started taking their 24 hour layovers further back. The consensus is that Swingley will take his 24 hour layover plus 2 hour 48 minute start differential here. DeeDee Jonrowe has moved into second place with a team that is arguably running the fastest right now, however she is long overdue into Cripple. It could be that she has already checked in there and the Iditarod volunteers missed the update as sometimes happens. Camped back at the hospitable Takotna checkpoint likely taking their 24 are Jeff King and Aliy Zirkle. Based on their time in there, and the start differential makeup that occurs on the 24, they will come off that break as first and second place, however, when Swingley finishes his layover, he will jump right back into the mix into one of the top 3 spots. We think Jason Barron and Mitch Seavey are taking their 24s at Ophir. These 2 teams appear to be racing together, and are 3 hours off the pace set by Swingley into Ophir. Seavey historically runs a very fast second half, so if the leaders slow and Jason Barron hangs with him, they could very well be right in the mix. Jason's father, John Barron, Ed Iten, Bjørnar Andersen, Jacques Philip, Martin Buser, Ramy Brooks, and Rick Swensen all seem to be taking a break at Ophir as well. Philip is running a remarkable race. His dogs have never run a race longer then 460 miles since he typically runs stage races. He told us earlier that he didn't expect to be competitive, just finish and make sure the dogs enjoyed the event. Well he appers to be running very competitive keeping pace with some first class teams. Norwegian mushers Tore Albrigtsen and his wife Tove Sørensen are currently in good position for rookies of the year and at one point were sharing the trail with all-star Norwegian musher Bjørnar Andersen. They are co-racing, so perhaps they can be co-winners of that award? They appear to be laying over in Takotna and could well come out of that rest in a top 20 position or better. As they explained to us earlier, they are not in Alaska for a vacation.

Iditarod mid race confusion

As we approach the mid point of the Iditarod race, confusion is inevitable. This is the period where teams will start taking their mandatory 24 hour layover. Bear in mind also that the start differential gets tacked on to the 24 hour layover, thus teams who started last have shorter layover then teams like Doug Swingley who started 4th. Add to that, a mandatory 8 hour layover on the Yukon river which is fast approaching, and you can quickly understand how keeping track of who is in front becomes very difficult. It is not unusual for teams to leverage this period of confusion to make strategic moves as well. In short, once the layovers start, we can only speculate where all the teams fall out until everyone completes their 24 and 8 hour layovers. But the layovers have not started yet, so let's take this opportunity to get our bearings. Doug Swingley and Jeff King are certainly leding the race. Doug checked into the Takotna checkpoint 436 miles into the race first at 2:25 this morning. Jeff came in 35 minutes later. At this point, that is a slim lead, however, Swingley has a 2 hour 38 minute start differential, and King's is 1 hour 48 minutes. In theory, King is 15 minutes ahead when you take into account the differential. For our purposes, we'll call it a dead heat. Other teams into Takotna include Aliy Zirkle at 5 am and DeeDee Jonrowe at 6. Considering the start differential, they are both within 2 hours of the lead. Roxy spoke to Aliy at Nikolai, and Aliy confirmed she is maintaining her pre-planned schedule. She told us she would try and stick with the leaders until the Yukon river, and then see if her team had it in them to make the push. We won't know if that works for her until this period of confusion ends, but we'll try to keep track. DeeDee by all accounts has a good looking team and is consistently making up time. She has the leaders nervous. Others in the pack could still make their move. Ramy Brooks and Bjornar Andersen both seem to have altered their schedules to accommodate the ebb and flow of the race, but will these adjustments work? With more then half of the race left, they certainly aren't about to give up. The surprise so far has got to be Paul Gebhardt. Gebhardt finished 2nd in the 2000 Iditarod but decided to retire after that. As sometimes happens, he decided to come out of retirement in 2003, and like fellow ex-retired musher Doug Swingley, had to start seasoning a team again to become competitive. As many now know, Gebhard had an incident on the way into Nikolai where his team got away and Swingley helped him out with a ride. Gebhardt seems to have shaken that episode off, and is once again running with the leaders, however don't forget about the start differential. Gebhardt started dead last, which gives him a 2 hour 38 minute advantage over Swingley at the 24. Maybe he'll get a chance to return the favor?

Swingley and King lead

Aliy Zirkle at Nikolai Photo by Tony Wright

Doug Swingley continues his trend of arriving first at checkpoints by checking into Nikolai at 12:56 pm Alaska time today. Close behind and actually ahead on start time differential is Jeff king who checked in some 25 minutes later. Swingley rested his team for 6 hours and hit the trail again. At this writing, he is the only musher to check out of Nikolai, but there are many teams resting there. the remaining top 5 are Mitch Seavey, Ed Iten, and Aliy Zirkle. Aily says she is right on schedule, and in fact arrived at Nikolai in the same time frame as she did last year. Other teams at Nikolai within triking distance are DeeDee Jonrowe, John Baker, and Bjornar Andersen. Camped just prior to Nikolai are Ramy Brooks, and Martin Buser. The official Iditarod stats have Buser back at Rohn, but that is incorrect (as sometimes happens in this race).

Who is in the lead?

Ramy Brooks and team at Rainy Pass Photo by Tony Wright

The 93 mile stretch between the Rohn and Nikolai checkpoints is the second longest on the race route. When we don't get statistics on the teams during this stretch, it makes it very difficult to determine who is in the lead. That distance can be covered in about 7 and 1/2 hours by a well rested team. However, the first teams that left were not well rested and will need rest on the trail. Roxy Wright who follows the race closely watching her son Ramy Brooks compete advises that a good measure of who the leaders can be obtained by looking at the time they checked into Rohn - not out. Tyrell Seavey might now a thing or two about this. Tyrell ran the Iditarod last year, and is observing it from his dorm room in Montana this year. Tyrell flew through the Rohn checkpoint and chose to rest at Post River Glacier - a move that put him into 5th place. "The teams who had been camped in Rohn began to blow by us and by the time I was ready to bootie up my team I had dropped back into the high 30’s." he observed. The top 5 checking into Rohn (all within 30 minutes of each other) are Doug Swingley, DeeDee Jonrowe, Jessica Hendicks, Lance Mackey, and Bjornar Andersen. Swingley spent 13 minutes at the checkpoint. The remainder took about 8 hours of rest, and all just recently left the checkpoint within 3 minutes of each other, so look for most of them to make it straight to Nikolai. Swingley has the most experienced dog team in the field. Every member of his team not only raced the Iditarod last year, but finished. His challenge is too maintain an appropriate pace since his dogs continually tend to run too fast.

Montana mushers set the pace

Lincoln Montana musher and 4-time Iditarod champion Doug Swingley was the first musher to leave the Rohn checkpoint. Fellow Montana mushers Jason and John Barron left 5th and 6th less then 2 hours behind. Jason hails from Lincoln also, and his father John lives in nearby Helmville. John has run more then 20 iditarods. Also leaving Rohn were Jeff King, Ramy Brooks, Aliy Zirkle, and Mitch Seavey. Will the winner come from this pack? Maybe, but it is still to early to tell. I can assure you that everyone of these teams will be looking over their shoulder for the Norwegian team of Bjornar Andersen. Bjornar who is still resting in Rohn took a slight detour earlier in the race after the Finger Lake checkpoint, where he followed the wrong trail markers for 40 minutes before turning around loosing about an hour and a half. Also resting in Rohn are DeeDee Jonrowe, Jessica Hendricks, Lance Macky, 3-time winner Martin Buser, John Baker, and Ed Iten. Given the slow trail conditions this year, any one of these teams could challenge for the lead. The trail to the Nikolai checkpoint is a flat 93 mile adventure over the Farewell burn. Teams that did not rest at Rohn will be resting on the trail, but those who did rest may decide to make the run in one go. It should be noted that DeeDee started in 31st position, so she has a 52 minute time differential over Swingley (who started 5th) which will be made up at the 24 hour layover. Big Lake, Alaska musher Cim Smyth who just checked out of Rohn in 11th has the largest time differential of the leaders at over 2 hours. Checking out of Rohn just prior to Cim is 5 time iditarod champ Rick Swensen. Rick has not won the race since 1991.

Swingley first into Rainy Pass

4-time Iditarod winner Doug Swingley became the first musher to check into the Rainy Pass checkpoint 224 miles into the race. We expect Doug to rest his team a bit here before leaving the lodge for the 48 mile jaunt up the pass and down the always tricky Dalzell Gorge. Also, his dogs may need the rest given this area has some fresh snow, and the first team through typically does more work. 40 minutes after Doug's arrival, 3 time Iditarod winner and and 8 time K300 winner Jeff King checked in. 5 minutes later, Ramy Brooks came in. It would not surprise us to see these 3 push the pace through most of the race, but there will be others as well given this is still early and the run and rest schedules for the mushers will vary greatly depending on their strategy. All eyes are on the trail watching out for Bjornar Andersen, the musher from Team Norway many expect to win. If he follows theschedule set by his team mates in previous years, he may just blow right through the Rainy Pass checkpoint and wait until Rohn to rest the team. Lance Mackey who was first to Finger Lake has not left that checkpoint yet, but he should shortly, and when he does, we expect him to run long too as he demonstrated in the Yukon Quest race this year. It is interesting to note that 25 teams passed Mackey while he was resting at Finger Lake, but we don't think he is concerned.

Mackey first to Finger Lake

Fresh off his victory in the 1000 mile Yukon Quest 10 days ago, Lance Mackey has shown that his dogs have plenty of get up and go left by becoming the first musher to check into the Finger Lake checkpoint. While it is still very early in the race, and lead changes will be frequent as teams settle into their schedules, this is an impressive move by Mackey who started the race in 23rd position. Along the way to Finger lake he has passed such teams as Ramy Brooks, Ed Iten, Mitch Seavey, and Doug Swingley. We expect a few more teams will check into Finger Lake before Lance hits the trail again.

Bearss takes early lead

Rookie musher Brian Bearss of Anchorage has taken the early lead in the Iditarod race, departing the Skwentna checkpoint first with a team of 15 dogs. Ramy Brooks, Melanie Gould, Ramey Smyth, and Jeff King round out the top 5. Ironically, Bearss once worked for King at his kennel. Bearss started the race fourth, and has already passed 4 time winner and frequent front runner Doug Swingley however King has made the most significant move having started 28th in the 83 team field. From Skwentna, the trail now heads uphill towards Finger Lake, and after that is the rugged trail up Rainy Pass.

Musher profile: Jessica Hendricks

Jessica Hendricks

Musher Jessica Hendricks is a native Alaskan growing up in Fairbanks and attending high school at North Pole. She became interested in mushing at the age of 9 when she was helping her stepfather Kerry Babcock work a trap line and began competing in junior sprint races. Babcock gave her the entire team when she was 15. She began serious training for the Iditarod race her senior year in high school. The 18 year old won her first race as an adult that year - the Two Rivers 200. In 2002 she finished 6th in the Copper Basin 300 beating Iditarod veteran Dee Dee Jonrowe. She stunned the mushing world in 2003 finishing 19th in the Iditarod winning rookie-of-the-year as a 20 year old in a time of 11 days 2 hours and 40 minutes. Her mushing husband Dennis Kananowicz was equally surprised. "It was like, `Wow,'" Kananowicz said. "We were surprised we did so well. Seeing her do so well made us realize we had pretty good dogs." Jessica and Dennis work a 65 dog kennel in Copper Center. The kennel is called Iron Pearl -- pearl because it's her middle name and iron because, according to her family and friends, she is so strong. Dennis took his shot at the Iditarod in 2004 while Jessica provided support. Dennis bettered Jessica's time by finishing in 10 days 23 hours. 2005 was Jessica's turn again, She won the Tustumena 200 race and got 15th in the Iditarod in 10 days 3 hours 20 minutes. This year she repeated as champion in the Tustumena 200 surprising others hoping to win that race including Iditarod champions Jeff King and Dean Osmar. We've watched this team improve over the last 3 years, so it would not surprise us to see Jessica get a top 10 finish in the Iditarod this go around.

Musher profile: Jeff King

Jeff with Bronte (L) and Bernard Photo by Justina Phillip

Jeff King thinks he may have a new leader to bring him back to first place in this year's Iditarod. The 3 year old dog goes by the name of Bernard. Bernard is the off-spring of 6 year old Tinkle. Tinkle helped lead Jeff's team to a second place Iditarod finish in 2004. Bernard led King's team on a blistering pace to win this years Kuskokwim 300 race. But it is going to take more then a good team of dogs to win this year's Iditarod which promises to be as competitive as ever.

Perhaps that is why Jeff believes in innovation. Jeff has won the Iditarod race 3 times, but he hasn't won it since 1998. No musher has revolutionalised long distance dog racing more then Jeff King over the last several years. Some of his ideas have literally shocked the mushing world. In 2001 he started racing teams without benefit of neck lines. This was unheard of until that time, and in fact some races still require them. Necklines keep the dogs from straying too far from the tug line thus requiring them to pull at a straighter angle. Jeff figured they wasted energy, and he could do without if the dogs were trained better. Anyone who has seen Jeff's teams in action over the last few years will readily verify he got the training right. In 2003, he abandoned the traditional harness which pulled straight from the back of the dog, to a harness that pulled from the side midway back. Mushers thought he had finally lost his mind, but Jeff figured his dogs would be more comfortable pulling this way given they would not have to run kiddywampus to pull on a tug line that was along side of them. In 2004 he focused his attention on the sed which had remained largely unchanged since the dawn of dogsled racing. He split the cargo area in two, and placed himself in the middle, effectively giving himself a place to sit. This bark-o-lounger idea caught on quickly with the other mushers. He refined the sled some more in 2005 adding a doggie hold on the back where he could rest one of his dogs rather then in the traditional hold. He found his dogs could be more useful resting there then in the old spot, but this also enabled him to make his sled articulating, which greatly increased the stability.

We fully expect some new ideas from Jeff again this year. He has tinkered with the sled some more, but he has also picked up a dog training idea from observing Norwegian Bjornar Andersen's team at last year's Iditarod. While Bjornar and him were waiting for Dee Dee Jonrowe to untangle her team from a pileup at the bottom of Dalzell Gorge, he noticed that Bjornar's team just sat there waiting, while his team was all excited. This of course registered with Jeff. When the dogs get excited, they waste energy. Now when he gets ready for a training run, he lets the dogs sit in harness for a few hours before taking off, and as a result, he dogs have learned to stay calm until it is time to go. Another new training trick Jeff tried this summer included some doggy paddling in Goose Lake at his Denali Park Kennel. He tethers a team to a buoy, and lets them take off. The dogs really seem to enjoy it, and it certainly provides for a low impact workout without overheating in the summer sun.

This January Jeff served notice that he is a force to be reckoned with in this running of the Iditarod at the Kuskokwim race. Against a field that included 10 mushers who have had top ten finishes in the Iditarod, he finished first in a record time. This is his eighth victory in that race. Jeff had his top dogs in that team, and believes the experience and training gained by those dogs including one very promising young leader will go a long ways towards getting him to the bured arch first.

Fielders scratch at Aniak

The Kuskokwim 300 leaderboard has now confirmed that Linwood and Dalton Fielder have scratched at Aniak. With temperatures hovering around minus 35 (fahrenheit or celsius - take your pick), we were unable to dispatch a reporter in Aniak to find out more. Martin Buser passed the Akiachak checkpoint at 9:50 am with 7 dogs still on the team and should be to Bethel about noon in what has to be a disapointing race for him.

King hangs on to win

Seavey's team passing Tuluksak Photo by Justina Phillip

Jeff King won his 8th Kuskokwim 300 in the 26 year race. Nobody else has won the race now in it's 26th year more then twice. To win, he had to hold off the hard charging Mitch Seavey. Observers at the finish line could see Seavey's headlight in the distance as King crossed the line. The separation between first and second place was 95 seconds, second closest in the race's history. Seavey trailed King by 42 minutes at the Akiachak checkpoint 15 miles from the finish, but made up some time while King was tending to some dogs that were experiencing cold weather related issues. King is widely regarded for his consummate caring of his dogs. Ramy Brooks finished the race strong for a third place finish. After many attempts at the K300, this was his first trip to the podium. Ramy credited the conditions of the trail and the work of race support officials to his success. As Brooks crossed the finish line, they could see the light of Jon Little who finished fourth 2 minutes behind Brooks. Jon is a reporter for the Cabelas Iditarod website, so expect to see his diary of the race there once he catches his breath. An earlier report here raised the issue of Dalton Fielder's late arrival to Aniak. We are glad to report that Dalton did finally make it to Aniak. As of this writing neither him nor his father Linwood have left Aniak, but neither have scratched either. We hope to send a reporter to the scene later today to find out more.

King extends lead

Jeff King now appears to have a sizable lead in the Kuskokwim 300. King elected to take his 6 hour layover in Kalskag rather then push through to Aniak, and that strategy appears to have paid off. Mitch Seavey, and Ed Iten chose the same strategy, and they are currently running second and third. King has a 30 minute advantage over Seavey and 45 minutes over Iten. Ramy Brooks who took the layover in Aniak is fourth another 20 minutes behind. Martin Buser who was first to arrive in Aniak is now in 7th with 8 dogs still on the team. Martin dropped 5 dogs in Aniak. Lisa went to the community center to check on those 5 and reports that they are looking fine. The handler there said that Martin did not provide any explanation why he was dropping them. Jerry Riley and Mark May lost the trail coming out of Kalskag (outbound) and wasted about 3.5 hours finding it again. May ended up scratching at Ania. Nathan Underwood reached his hometown of Aniak, but scratched there as well as his homesick dogs refused to leave. Linwood Fielder is holed up in Aniak waiting for his son Dalton, and is concerned he may be lost. Both Linwood and Dalton took their layover in Kalskag, and Dalton left Kalskag 25 minutes after Linwood.

Buser and Brooks lead K300

Ramy Brooks at start Photo by k300.org

After waiting 2 days for the extreme cold weather to break, the Kuskokwim 300 race finally began Monday at noon. Because of the delay 4 racers chose to drop because of previous commitments, including 2 previous K300 and Iditarod winners Doug Swingley and Rick Swensen. Martin Buser charge to the lead from the start, and is winning the race at the halfway point arriving in Aniak just after midnight taking a little over 12 hours averaging better then 11.5 miles per hour. Arriving 17 minutes behind him was Ramy Brooks. Both will take their mandatory 6 hour layover in Aniak. Due to arrive in Aniak about 8 this morning with their 6 hour layovers already taken are Jeff King, Ed Iten, and Mitch Seavey. Jeff King has ruled this race for many years winning it 7 times. Mitch Seavey won the K300 in 2005, and Ed Iten won it in 2004.

Kusko 300 to start Monday

Cold weather delayed the start of the Kuskokwim 300 once again. Race is scheduled to start noon (ADT) Monday. Forcast calls for 10 degress warmer on Monday (minus 10) with diminishing winds, so hopefully they will get it kicked off.

Kusko "255" start delayed

Bitter cold weather forced a delay to the start of the Kuskokwim 300 dog race by 2 days. Additionally, the 45 mile Pike Lake spur section and second Aniak checkpoint have been dropped from the route. Temperatures Friday in Bethel hovered near the minus 20 range with wind-chill dipping to around minus 60. Those frigid temperatures raise concern about the safety of the dogs, mushers, and volunteers working the long cold hours, but the factor most responsible for putting the start on ice was the grounding of air travel at the Bethel airport making logistics support next to impossible. The start has been re-scheduled for Sunday noon. Sunday's weather calls for a balmy high of minus 10 by midday. The cold weather should favor mushers Aliy Zirkle of Fairbanks, Ed Iten and John Baker of Kotzebue, and Ramy Brooks of Healy, all who have trained their teams extensively in cold weather climates. Expect the first teams to pass Crow Village Monday morning.

Musher profile: Jacques Philip

Jacques Philip Photo by Jacques Philip

Mushers Jacques Philip and his wife Magali run the 85 dog Noatak Racing Team kennel situated between Nenana and Fairbanks Alaska. In the summer, they provide glacier sled dog tours out of picturesque Skagway. Jacques was born and raised in France and has a doctorate in medicine. He first became curious about dog racing after watching a Swiss documentary on the sport in 1980. His curiosity would land him in Alaska to learn the sport under the tutelage of Joe Reddington Sr, widely known as the father of the Iditarod. Jacques became the first Frenchman to complete the Iditarod in 1985 and last finished the Iditarod in 1991 taking 13th place. He stepped away from the Iditarod after that race and began concentrating on stage and middle distance races.

Last year, Jacques decided to enter the Iditarod again. He found his dogs were doing more and more distance work in preparation for stage races, and reasoned that a 1000 mile race would not be a stretch for them. He didn't get a chance to test that theory out however. A little more then 200 miles into the race coming up on Rainy Pass, Jacques crashed into a tree and dislocated his right hand. He stabilized it by wrapping it in duct tape, although we are not sure if he learned that trick at medical school or from the teachings of Joe Reddington Sr. Potential problems handling the dogs one handed on the difficult trail sections ahead, along with the significant swelling and risk of infection to the hand forced him to scratch at Rainy Pass. He decided to give the Iditarod another try this year becoming the 99th musher to register.

We asked Jaques about his training and racing plans leading up to the Iditarod. Magali and him will each enter a team this January in the 1000 kilometer La Grande Odessee stage race taking place in France. Jacques told us, "This race is important for us because of course it is in France where we have family and they can come and visit us, but also because it has a big potential for media coverage and sponsorship". Next up is the 290 mile Wyoming Stage Stop stage race across Wyoming starting January 27. Jacques and Magali finished 2nd and 9th respectively in that race last year. Jacques does not know how long it will take him to get to Nome, but he is not concerned about that. His primary objective will be to keep his dogs and himself from getting hurt. Magali maintains a blog hilighting the training progress.

Musher profile: Aliy Zirkle

Aliy with Pedro Photo by Donna Dewhurst

Musher Aliy Zirkle from Two Rivers, Alaska surprised a lot of folks in last year's Iditarod when she pulled within an hour and a half of race winner Robert Sørlie at the ghost town of Iditarod more then half way through the race and continued challenging for the lead along the Yukon river. It didn't surprise her however. She told us "I really want to win the Iditarod, and I think I can." Aliy has run the race 5 times now, and she thinks that experience has helped her learn what it takes to win. She explained, "At this point it is not an issue of dog power or high tech equipment, I think the issue is what happens to you when you are out on the race and how you respond to it. I know where I am weak and I think that I will improve."

Aliy runs the Skunks Place kennel with her husband and fellow musher Allen Moore. It is a family run operation. Aliy and Allen run the dogs, and Aliy's sister Kaz manages the whole operation. They keep the number of dogs low enough to where they don't require handlers to help with the training. Aliy thinks that helps keep her in shape, and more in touch with the dogs. Two Rivers has not had much early season snow this year, but the training has been going good none-the-less with the teams pulling four-wheelers until the first part of December, and working harder now with the sleds now that the snow is sufficient.

The dogs from Skunk's Place kennel will be running in a few 200 and 300 mile races this season in preparation for the Iditarod. Allen will take a team to the Copper Basin 300. This is a race Allen won last year. Aliy will take a young team to the Kuskokwim 300. This is her first time to race the K300, but she has a large group of 2 year old dogs who have never raced, and she needs to see how they will handle a tough demanding race. She plans on including a few seasoned leaders on that team to help show the young ones the ropes. Both Aliy and Allen will enter the Tustumena 200. Last year, Aliy finished 3rd and Allen finished 11th in the Tustumena. With this racing complete, they hope to pick the likely candidates for the Iditarod team and test them at the Yukon Quest 300.

Aliy has shown she can race with the top dogs winning the Yukon Quest 1000 in 2000 and finishing 11th last year at the Iditarod. She is still tweaking her Iditarod race plan, but she figures this racing will help to decide that and really decide which dogs will help her win. She doesn't anticipate starting fast, but hopes to pick up speed later in the race when the other teams start to fade. We anticipate she will do very well.

Doug Swingley joins K300 field

The 4 time Iditarod winning musher Doug Swingley from Lincoln Montana became the latest elite musher to register for the Kuskokwim 300 (K300) dogsled race. Doug begins his third season returning from retirement, and we don't typically see Doug race in Alaska prior to the Iditarod, so this will be a rare opportunity to see how he stacks up against some of the top teams. Mushers who have already registered for the K300 include Aliy Zirkle, Paul Gebhard, Jeff King, Martin Buser, and Mitch Seavey. King, Buser, and Seavey of course have each won the Iditarod at least once, and all 5 challenged for the lead in last year's Iditarod running second or higher at least one checkpoint during the race. DeeDee Jonrowe, Ramy Brooks, and Ed Iten are 3 more mushers who ran as high as second at some point in last years Iditarod. Those 3 all ran the K300 last years so we would not be surprised to see them submit their registrations in the coming weeks. This should make for a very competitve race. The K300 route has been altered slightly from last year's route. Like last year, the route passes Crow Village on the way to the Aniak checkpoint, however, upon leaving Aniak, instead of looping down to Whitefish Lake, the teams will do an out and back to Pike Lake, returning to check in at Aniak for a second time. This is being done to increase the involvement of Aniak in the race. As an added bonus, the route passes Crow Village again on the return back to Bethel marking the first time in the 26 year history of the race that the mushers pass Crow Village twice.

Susan Butcher begins treatment for leukemia

Susan Butcher, is a four-time champion of the Iditarod. She won those four races over a span of 5 years in the later eighties and during that time she was the most dominant athlete in long distant dogsled racing. She was diagnosed last week with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), and has since begun treatment. Leukemia is a malignant disease of the blood and bone marrow, and she is undergoing chemotherapy treatment at Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington, Seattle. On her behalf, the Blood Bank of Alaska is organizing a statewide donor drive on December 30th to test anyone who would like to donate. Updates on this program and her progress can be found at www.susanbutcher.com.

Dean Osmar becomes 103rd entrant

Dean Osmar Photo by Joe Runyan

UPDATE: Dean Osmar has decided to withdraw from this year's running of the Iditarod.

Dean Osmar from Clam Gulch, Alaska on the Kenai peninsula became the 103rd entrant in what may well become a record size field for the 34th Iditarod. It is still possible for more entrants to be considered provided their form was postmarked by December 1st, and I can certainly attest to mail delays sometimes experienced in Alaska. Typically some qualified entrants will not end up in the race for various reasons, but the most typical reason would be rookies failing to meet race qualification requirements prior to the race. Dean will not fall into that category since he has completed the race twice before. In 1982 he finished 12th, and in 1984 he shocked many by winning. It is worth noting that his winning time that year was in 12 days and 15 hours. He would need to cut about 3 days off that time to put himself in contention these days. Dean has a son (Tim) also running the race this year. Tim Osmar has volunteered to be the visual interpreter for visual impaired musher Rachael Scdoris. Tim is a perennial top 20 finisher who has finished as high as 3rd. Tim is fielding a very young team this year, so he didn't figure on being competitive yet still wants to get those doggies some valuable trail experience to make for a more competitive push in the future, so volunteering to help Rachael became the obvious choice for him. This is actually the second time both Dean and Tim have raced the Iditarod together. The first time was in 2003. Tim finished 22nd that year, however Dean decided to scratch at Galena after contracting salmonella from a bad hamburger he ate in Fairbanks.

Iditarod registration reaches 100

Musher registration for the Iditarod officially closed December 1st with 99 entrants showing at that time. However, registrations only had to be postmarked by then, so a few more were expected to trickle in. Today, the official iditarod website showed the 100th entrant - Ray Reddington Jr. If that name sounds familiar, it should. He is the grandson of Iditarod founder, Joe Reddington Sr. Also, the field is heating up for the Kuskokwim 300, which should give us a good indication of how some of the teams stack up against each other. As you may know, the K300 passes right by Crow Village so we tend to get some inside information from that event. Entrants worth watching in the K300 so far include Jeff King, Aliy Zirkle, Martin Buser, and Paul Gebhardt.

Musher profiles: Tove Sørensen and Tore Albrigtsen

Tove & Tore

The bond and support between the human competitors at the Iditarod dogsled race is arguably stronger then for any other event. Traveling 1049 miles for a week and a half over some very remote Alaskan territory facilitates this bonding. The bond and support between Norwegian mushers Tove Sørensen and Tore Albrigtsen goes beyond that. Both have been mushing for over 20 years, but 7 years ago, these 2 married each other. They live, work, and train together at the Tromsø Wilderness Centre in Tromsø Norway (www.villmarkssenter.no), and now for the first time, they will be racing the Iditarod together. While they may be listed as rookies for this year's Iditarod, but that should not prevent them from finishing strong. We've witnessed Norwegian mushers exceed our expectations in the Iditarod for the last 4 years, so now we tend to watch the Norwegian mushers a bit closer.

Tove and Tore have plenty of experience, but seemingly they gain additional benefits from each other. Each year they mush in Finland's rugged 1000 kilometer Finnmarksløpet race. Their strategy is to race both teams together as long as they both stay strong. For the last 6 years, Tove and Tore have crossed the finish line at the Finnmarksløpet at the same time, and those finishes have been in the top 10 for each. Apparently that strategy has some merit for them. Dogs for both teams come from their 130 dog kennel at the Tromsø Wilderness Centre . This kennel also serves as the canine workforce for entertaining the guests, so obviously the dogs and mushers from both teams are very familiar with each other. We have verified that the burly arch in Nome is wide enough to accommodate double finish, so we will be watching closely to see if they can pull that off.

We caught up with Team Tove & Tore in Norway via email just as they were preparing to leave for Alaska to attend the rookie meeting. Tore is already familiar with the Iditarod route having skijored the route in 1997, so we asked him about that experience. Tore tells us that it was "a great adventure. A good way to see the Alaska, but probably not the easiest way." That adventure took him 19 days and 7 hours to complete. We were curious if the other Norwegian Iditarod racers offered any inspiration. "Of course they have given good (advice) about the race, but we still have to drive our own dogs to Nome by our self." What level of racing can we expect from Norwegian mushers? "The results from Robert, Kjetil and Bjørnar is of course really good, but that also (is) telling about the level in Norway. It could be more good mushers who did Iditarod but it cost a lot to do it and the marked for sponsors are not like in US." We asked what their target finish time would be. "(Since this is the) first time Iditarod, we don't know what will happen, but we are not coming for a holiday…"

It is difficult for us to predict a top 10 Iditarod finish for Tove and Tore at this time. There results at the Finnmarksløpet have not been as impressive as the other Norwegians Robert Sørlie, Kjetil Backen, and Bjørnar Andersen, each of who have won that race. It is a significant commitment to field 2 teams from Norway in this race, so we are confident we will see a competitive effort however. Can they cross the finish line together? Only time will tell, but we will definitely be watching.

Musher profile: Lance Mackey

Lance with Scotch

Musher Lance Mackey from Kasilof, Alaska may be one of the favorites to win this year's Iditarod. The 35 year old musher certainly had a banner year last winter winning the 2005 Yukon Quest in his first attempt at that race, and occasionally challenging for the lead in the 2005 Iditarod ultimately finishing 7th. So it may come as a surprise to find out that he recently elected amputation surgery to better his chances this year. He had the index finger on his left hand surgically removed in the off-season.

The fact that Mackey is mushing at all is an impressive feat. Doctors told him he would never mush again after a battle with cancer in 2001 resulted in major surgery on his neck. His doctors predicted after that surgery that he would only regain about 10 percent mobility in his arm. Despite that prognosis, however, Lance worked hard and eventually regained almost complete mobility in that arm. Complete with the exception of that index finger that is. Proper feelingwould never return to that finger, and the cold conditions would aggravate it to the extent to where not only was it unusable, but the throbbing pain was almost unbearable. He vowed to change that situation. Doctors gave him 2 choices - continue with physical therapy with the quickly fading hope that the condition would improve, or surgically remove the problem digit. He chose the latter.

Success in dogsled racing has 3 major components. The natural ability of the dogteam, training strategy, and performance of the musher. Lance proved last year that he had a viable team of young dogs, and with many of those dogs now reaching their prime, they will be a force to reckon with. Lance's ability to perform should be a notch better this year given he no longer has the finger pain to deal with, and the digit he lost was of no use to him last year anyway. The training strategy is the big question mark at this point. During his rehabilitation from the surgery, his handlers have had a much larger role in the trainng program. Will this affect the way the dogs respond to him? We should get or first clues on that when he completes the Sheep Mountain 150 next month - a race that he won last year. Once again Lance plans on racing the 1000 mile Yukon Quest which finishes a scant 2 weeks before the start of the Iditarod. The conventional wisdom suggests that is not a good strategy, but it is a strategy that brought success for lance last year.

This is one team we will be keeping a close eye on.

81 Mushers registered for 2006 iditarod

81 mushers have registered so far for the 2006 Iditarod. The racers will begin their trek to Nome the weekend of March 4, 2006, and you can find news and highlights for that event right here. Among those registered so far include Bjørnar Andersen, Mitch Seavey, Ramy Brooks, Martin Buser, Jeff King, Rick Swensen, Ed Iten, Doug Swingley, Jessica Hendricks, Lance Mackey, Aliy Zirkle, DeeDee Jonrowe, Rachael Scdoris, and Tove Sørensen and Tore Albrigtsen. Watch in the coming weeks as we highlight stories for each of these mushers and possibly a few more.

Registration begins for the Kuskokwim 300

The Kuskokwim 300 (K300) dogsled race begins January 20th at 6:30 pm. Iditarod mushers often use this race to tune up the dogs and their strategy, along with scoping out the competition. Given the proximity of the race route to Crow Village, the Crow Village Iditarod weblog reporting team keeps a close eye on this race to better gauge the dogsled team strengths and get inside information. So far, Jon Little and Mathias Blum have signed up. Jon has run the iditarod race several times finishing as high as fourth in 2002. Mathias is attempting to qualify for the Yukon Quest dogsled race. The Yukon Quest is a 1000 mile race from Fairbanks Alaska to Whitehorse Yukon Territories.

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