Iditarod 2017

[IUsafety 2,775]

You're on. I've got Aliy in an arm wrestling match though.


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[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,213]

RUBY, Alaska (KTUU) STANDINGS
1. Mitch Seavey (16) Out of Galena at 8:17 a.m.
2. Joar Leifseth Ulsom (38) In to Galena at 6:28 a.m.
3. Nicolas Petit (24) In to Galena at 7:25 a.m.
4. Hugh Neff (50) Out of Ruby at 2:42 a.m.
5. Peter Kaiser (25) Out of Ruby at 2:46 a.m.
6. Ray Redington Jr. (14) Out of Ruby at 5:03 a.m.
7. Jeff King (34) Out of Ruby at 5:48 a.m.
8. Michelle Phillips (9) Out of Ruby at 6:50 a.m.
9. Jessie Royer (37) Out of Ruby at 7:01 a.m.
10. Ralph Johannessen (39) Out of Ruby at 7:32 a.m.

 

Aliy is 11, Dallas is 18.

[IUsafety 2,775]

So hard to tell who is actually leading. The top four haven't taken their 8 or 24 hour breaks. Aliy has taken her 8 hour. Dallas is in the middle of his 24 hour. I would have thought that Dallas and Mitch would have similar strategies. Seems to be polar opposites.


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[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,213]

Yeah, they all have strange strategies. I'm not a fan of Mitch.

[hsrtxp 1,400]

Yeah, they all have strange strategies. I'm not a fan of Mitch.

Why?


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[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,213]

To win!

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[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,213]

Oh. For mitch? I don't know. It's that he is an opponent of my friends

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[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,213]

Iditarod dogs reach checkpoint without dozing musher Linwood Fiedler

Melissa Stewart’s team competes in the official restart of the Iditarod, a nearly 1,000-mile sled dog race across the Alaskan wilderness, in Fairbanks, Alaska, March 6, 2017.

Reuters/Nathaniel Wilder

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JUNEAU, Alaska -- Add sleep to the already long list of hazards in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

A video posted on the official race website shows a dog team that arrived at a checkpoint without a musher. “Now you’ve seen it all, huh?” a man in the video says.

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As the video scanned the faces of the mellow-mannered dogs, a man could be heard saying, “Where’s Linwood?”

That would be Linwood Fiedler, a race veteran. He arrived at the checkpoint about an hour behind his dogs after falling asleep and toppling off his sled, according to information accompanying the video.

Fiedler checked in at 4:09 a.m. Thursday and was back on the trail at 11:37 a.m., race standings show.

“I wish I had some great story about how a moose attacked my team, but I just fell asleep,” Fiedler told CBS Anchorage affiliate KTVA-TV. “I nodded off and caught a snowsnake, and I went flying, and I yelled for them to whoa, and they almost stopped, but they know where Ruby is,” referring to the checkpoint.

He told Anchorage television station KTUU that he had been fighting to stay awake.

“I was doing a pretty good job, and then I lost,” he said, laughing.

“I’ll tell you one thing. From the minute my body left the sled until my face smashed into the snow, I was still asleep,” he said.

Fiedler told the station he has fallen off his sled only a few times during his career. The last time it happened, he was awake, so he said, “Whoa,” and his dogs stopped.

“I was really hoping for a repeat of that last night,” he said. “You feel a little alone and naked walking down the Yukon River all by yourself in the middle of the night, looking at wolf tracks that every once in a while, you go, ‘Hmm.’”

Other mushers were able to give Fiedler a lift to the checkpoint.

Fiedler began dog mushing in 1977, according to his profile on the race website. For the last 16 summers, he’s operated a glacier tour business.

Race director Mark Nordman said Fiedler faced no penalty for his separation from his dogs.

“It’s another story for his book,” he said.

The winner of the nearly 1,000-mile race across Alaska is expected in Nome early next week. Racers set off from Fairbanks on Monday.

[hsrtxp 1,400]

Wow. That's crazy!


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[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,213]

Dude zonked out...lol!

[IUsafety 2,775]

Bump!

It is crazy how far they can run these dogs on just a little bit of rest. For example, coming off of his 24 hour rest, Dallas ran his team about 50 miles and took a 9 minute stop at Galena. Then proceeded another 80 miles to Huslia and took a 27 minute break. Grabbed a few supplies and hit the trail for another 90 miles. 36 minutes at two checkpoints and about 220 miles traveled in probably about 35 hours. The dogs usually look they are enjoying it though.

Edit: After rereading this, this paragraph has the feel of a math problem.

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[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,213]

Aliy's team had to deal with an illness.

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[IUsafety 2,775]

Aliy's team had to deal with an illness.

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Bummer. Team is doing well though. Already have their 8 and 24 hour breaks done. She is near the top of the teams that have completed both.


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[IUsafety 2,775]

About 150 miles left for the top mushers. Looking like it might be Mitch's year. Dallas is in fourth and Aliy in sixth.

 

 

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Edit: Meant to say 250 miles.

[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,213]

1. Mitch Seavey: In to Shaktoolik at 9:04 p.m.
2. Dallas Seavey: Out of Unalakleet at 8:36 p.m.
3. Wade Marrs: Into Unalakleet at 4:05 p.m.
4. Nicolas Petit: Into Unalakleet at 4:08 p.m.
5. Joar Leifseth Ulsom: In to Unalakleet at 8:38 p.m.
6. Aliy Zirkle: Out of Kaltag at 9:13 a.m.
7. Jessie Royer: Out of Kaltag at 10:26 a.m.
8. Ray Redington, Jr.: Out of Kaltag at 11:25 a.m.
9. Jason Mackey: Out of Kaltag at 12:23 p.m.
10. Mats Pettersson: Out of Kaltag at 1:15 p.m.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 81,925]

Each year at this time, Norman Chad writes a comedic piece about the race.  This year's article:

They’re running out of snow, so “The Last Great Race on Earth” might be down to its last race soon. As the 45th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race treks on, Couch Slouch is pleased that Tuffy the Snow Prince, the outspoken 55-pound Siberian husky on musher Spoons Grabilovitch’s sled team, again has agreed to keep a daily log.

Here are excerpts of Tuffy’s Iditarod journal:

Day 1: They moved the start of the race to Fairbanks. Fond memories — my favorite town to chase fire trucks and snowmobiles. . . . I always double-poop the morning we get underway; must be nerves. . . . I’ve got to thank my lucky stars for the Iditarod; otherwise, I’d have jury duty this week. . . . Spare me the organic, artisanal farm-to-bowl chow; I need 10,000 calories a day. . . .

I know he’s hurt now, but it would’ve been fun if we signed Kevin Durant.

Day 2: After 119 miles on the trail, nothing is worse than bunking with a malamute that snores. . . . Like Bud Fox in “Wall Street,” I just want to motorcycle through China one day. . . . Memo to all mushers: We do the grunt work, you just smile for the cameras. . . . If global warming is a myth, then how come half the fans cheering us on are wearing Bermuda shorts?. . .

Not a single dog here has a comb over.

Day 3: Mushers can carry iPhones for the first time; yeah, like I want Spoons texting-and-driving around the icy bend near the Yukon River. . . . I wouldn’t mind if POTUS built a wall around Alaska — I hate mainlanders. . . . Heck, half of us are undocumented immigrants; what, you think the American water spaniel wants to run this race? . . . My pet peeve about the Affordable Care Act? It doesn’t cover canine frostbite. . . .

My screensaver is a painting of Humans Playing Fetch.

Day 4: Still disappointed that Trump banned the Afghan hounds and armed the border collies at Westminster last month. . . . True fact: There are 20 official languages in Alaska. So why is my musher speaking French? . . . Bravo to Daniel Day-Lewis’s Shetland sheepdog for the upcoming “My Left Paw” sequel. . . . I am a proud Siberian husky, so don’t blame me for my socialistic tendencies. . . . The Applebee’s in Shaktoolik is to die for. . . .

Colbert kills me, Kimmel bores me.

Day 5: Dallas Seavey has won three straight titles here, so of course rumors are swirling that his dogs are doping. . . . Identity theft is rampant in these parts, which is why I always put my dog tags in a safe box when I sleep. . . . Say what you will about Vladimir Putin, but his huskies have WiFi in their doghouse. . . . It embarrasses me a bit that I still balk at same-sex dog unions. …

Yellow flowers, yes; yellow snow, no.

Day 6: My blog post last week — “If We Win This, I’m Not Setting a Paw in the White House” — is still the talk of Golovin. . . . Charles Barkley’s right about the Tour de France; those fellas are not athletes. But we are. . . . They let cats into the Westminster dog show this year. And here? Yeah, right. . . . Dated a Samoyed once — all bark and no bite. . . .

I know some people are scared of dogs; I am scared of some people.

Day 7: Maybe I’m getting crotchety in my old age, but “La La Land” seemed more realistic to me than “A Dog’s Purpose.” . . . I think a Black Russian terrier was trying to influence the outcome of this race. . . . Uh, we need flea collars up here like eunuchs need condoms. . . . If a husky could pull a sled in the show ring, it’d win Westminster every year. . . .

Dog food + Hot Pockets = MacArthur Genius Grant!

Day 8: Remember when seeing Russia from Alaska was just a line from a hack politician? Not so funny now. . . . How do we deal with transgender bathroom issues? Hell, we poop wherever we want! . . . When did belly rubs become “canine massage therapy”? . . . I was seeing an American hairless terrier, but she couldn’t take the winters up here. . . .

I hope they keep Warren Beatty away from the award ceremony.

Day 9: Heard this at the water cooler this morning: “Q. Where do sled dogs go when they’ve lost their tails? A. A retail store.”

[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,213]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/mitch-seavey-closes-in-on-third-iditarod-victory/2017/03/14/44a54f86-08d1-11e7-bd19-fd3afa0f7e2a_story.html?utm_term=.3dcc055178b6

 

Mitch Seavey is about to win #3~

[IUsafety 2,775]

We will have a winner today. If everything goes right for Mitch Seavey, he will be a three time Iditarod Champion before sun falls this evening. Dallas is about two hours behind and only half his team of dogs are still running. Aliy is holding on to a top ten spot, with eight place.

 

 

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[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,213]

Guess I'll be paypal'ing you soon!

[IUsafety 2,775]

Guess I'll be paypal'ing you soon!

Maybe, Dallas may run out of Dogs.


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