A Classic Move by Nic Petit!

Right after I hit the "publish" button for that last post I see Nic is back on the trail heading to Anvik, RIGHT when Mitch was coming into the Shageluk checkpoint! This is a classic move, leave the checkpoint moments before your nearest competitor arrives, robbing them of a chance to look at your Team!  I'm sure Mitch just shrugged that off....he has been in this race for a long, long, time...and can expect the head games to be played.  Mitch has said he planned on "giving up the lead" anyhow....his end game is the coast....getting his Team to the coast and coming from behind, where in Unalakleet he can unleash the full power of his Team and pass everyone in sight.  This strategy has worked for Mitch in the past, and no doubt is his game plan once again.  The trick for the other Teams is putting as much distance between them and Mitch by the time they hit the coast, so that his wave of speed cant quite catch them!  And Mother Nature can be a spoiler for Mitch, as the soft trail is not allowing him to pack as many dogs in his sled as he would like.  He switched up to a smaller sled back in Tacotna, but he can still pack away 2 dogs without any issue...that big monster of a sled allowed him to pack away 4 dogs at a time.  The soft snow requires all his dogs to be on the line...so when he finally reaches the coast, it is yet to see what "reserved power" he actually has in his "rested" Team via rides in the sled bag.  I myself hope the strategy fails, as I'm a firm believer of a Team of dogs on the gang line, and only injured or fatigued dogs in the sled bag.  But hey, I don't make the rules....Mitch is playing by the rules as presently written, but it is a gamble with the soft trail....with more fresh snow in the extended forecasted each day.   

It is worthy to note Mitch won the 2013 race, which was the last time the race was ran on the southern route.  Back in 2013, he was 4 hours behind the front runner in Iditarod.  I do not believe he was hauling dogs back then....So LOTS can happen, and will happen, as the Teams push on to Nome!