Joar and Nic Battle it Out

Nic is presently 4 miles behind Joar.....Mitch is a few hours off the pace but reportedly his small squad of 9 dogs is more peppy than both the other front runners.  I don't think there is enough trail for Mitch to really make a threat, but with Mother Nature as the great equalizer anything can happen.  Ray Redington just left Koyuk and may actually be more of a threat to Mitch than Mitch is of Joar and Nic.

The other teams are either resting in Koyuk and preparing for the run to Elim, or they are still coming across the ice to Koyuk, as seen on the below screen shot.

Typically, the run to Elim is about 6 hours, and then on the White Mountain another 6 hours...and Teams will either stop for a short break to snack their dogs in Elim and do it in one longish run, but Bruce Lee from Iditarod Insider says with the wind still howling, he expects the Teams to stop in Elim for some rest before pushing on into White Mountain.  Time will tell.

Interesting to note the Rookie of the Year Race is heating up again, with Jessie Holmes making some blistering fast runs and now has passed Matt Hall heading into Koyuk!  Check out the map below!