And Their Off!

Out of McGrath we have Mackey, moving 9 to 10 mph to make up time to cover the 18 miles he is behind. The Leaders are also hitting the trail out of Takotna, Mitch first, with a 15 minute head start over Zirkle....Dallas, Baker and King will take chase at their release times off their 24 shortly. No one has a insurmountable lead at this point! While Lanier and Herbst battle it out on little rest to get to Cripple first....I got to wonder if they know the lead pack has been unleashed, and actually has a chance to get there ahead of them. Teams off their 24 can run fast....but the Musher has to be disciplined....they don't want to burn their Team out...there still is 600 miles of trail left! Strategy really kicks in here. Burmiester, who is in the top 10 out of Takotna, has a GPS strapped to his handlebar...keeping the Team no faster than 8.5 mph. As Teams fluctuate between 5 and 10 mph, he hopes to hold a steady 8.5 all the way to Nome. Baker, winner of the 2011 Iditarod has been quoted as saying "we have not even begun to race". This is an amazing race....and its about to get a whole lot more competitive!

I REALLY have to get to work now!