Front Five on the way to Shaktoolik

Dallas was the first to blow through the checkpoint of Unalakleet....he is presently at mile 766 which appears to be the checkpoint of Shaltoolik.  He will quite likely rest here or perhaps push to the shelter cabin at the edge of the sea ice.  I would think all Teams will need to rest a bit before crossing the frozen ocean to Koyuk.

Burmeister was next to leave Shaktoolik after a nearly a 5 hour rest.  He left just as King pulled in....a classic mind game....don't let the competition to see very much of you.  Aaron is from Nome, so everyone is thinking he has some kind of home court advantage and that his dogs know the wind....but in reality Aaron lives in Nenana just south of Fairbanks.  As Aliy put it "how much wind is in Nenana" when asked if Aaron has an advantage with the coastal wind.  Burmeister has gobbled up a lot of prizes along the way, but does he have the speed to win it on the coast.  My guess is no.  He has made some long hards "marches".....Dallas could have easily over taken him on the portage trail to Unalakleet and now is in the lead.  I suspect Aaron will continue a steady march to Nome without much challenge to Dallas.  Burmeister is presently at mile 749.

Mitch was the next to leave up the coast towards Shaktoolik, he blew through the Unalakleet checkpoint without resting....Aliy left within 20 minutes of Mitch pulling through and has now passed him on the trail going to Shaktoolik.  Mitch is presently at mile 733 and Aliy is at 734.  Aliy took about a 4.5 hour rest in Unalakleet before heading on the trail to Shaktoolik. N

Jessie Royer JUST left Unalakleet after 3.5 hours of rest.  This is a personal best run for Jessie with the potential to break into a top 5 finish!  Go Jessie!

It's 40 miles from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik...Dallas is already there...putting a nice gap in between him and his nearest competitors.

This will be a race along the coast from here on out to Nome.  It was reportedly windy in Unalakleet but winds have died down some as the Teams move north along the coast.  Let's hope it stays that way....we don't need another "life or death" finish like last year.

King is still in Unalakleet.  His Team looked great coming in, but doesn't appear to have gotten their magic back.  Perhaps the wind sucked some energy from them on that last third of the long haul from Kaltag.