King is in the lead over Sonny right now, but not by much as they race towards Ruby for their mandatory 24 hour rest....first one there gets a 7 course meal and an after dinner mint of crisp one dollar bills (I forget the amount, but it's well worth the extra effort!). Meanwhile, back in the pack of Teams who have already taken their 24 we have quite a race going on with no true leader taking the spot light. Well....then again there is Buser.....he is making his way towards Ruby too and is truly in the lead by about 45 to 50 miles. So far he has not shown any signs of weakness after his monster run in the beginning and taking his mandatory rest early in Nikolia. Kelly Maixner is an anomaly...his best finish was 30th in his rookie year and he is holding his own right now with his monster run to Rohn and very early 24 hour rest. Technically he is in second place behind Buser but looks like Neff is about to pass him. Then there is my girl (and my sponsor dog Chemo) running fast in 4th place right now fresh off of her 24 hour rest in Tacotna. The tracker has her stopped right now...probably snacking her dogs. But look out....Petit and Sorlie are also fresh out of their 24 and look to be about to pass her. This is a game of leap frog now with this bunch. While Buser is well on his way to Ruby, this chase pack will leap frog along as they rest and run their teams through some of the most remote areas of Alaska. It's about 77 miles to Cripple, and another 60 miles to Ruby. No way can any of the Teams do this without resting. Buser took about a 5 and a half hour rest in Ophir before heading to Cripple. Look for Aliy to perhaps do her resting on the trail....she and her dogs rest better away from the checkpoint activity. It's 30 to 40 below here in the interior....so all I got to say is Brrrrrr!! But the trail is reported in excellent condition....hard and fast and more importantly sufficiently covered with snow! Oh, I got to mention....maybe this is where Sorlie will make a move?? Perhaps he will rest only minimally and make a monster run to Ruby? He is known to do this.....long marches and short rests. It may be time for him to unleash the power of his Team....we shall see! Also, the Seavey are both done with their 24 hour rest....look for them to possible move closer to the front.....but that may be a bit un-Seavey-ish.....they tend to hide their strength in the pack and then make a move to the very front sometime after Kaltag. There is a lot of trail yet before they get there...but who knows, they may not want to lose sight of Sorlie...he no doubt will push the pace.
Once again, I unfortunately have to go to work! But look for updates tonight! It's going to be quite the racing day out on the Iditarod Trail!
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