Sass Disquilified!!! 8 Hour Rest for Buser and Neff!

Wow...a lot can happen while taking a 4 hour rest here in the North East!  I woke up to the news Brent Sass, 2015 Yukon Quest Champoin and one of the lead contenders for the Iditarod has been disqualified due to possessing a "two way communication device", which is illegal according to Iditarod rules!  This has got to be quite the blow to Brent, who was running a stellar Team of atheletes.  Not sure if what he was carrying was a cell phone or what, but wow....this is huge news!

Looking at the stats it appears only Buser and Neff have declared their 8 hour rest here....Aliy lead the charge out of Tanana...she is presently at mile 259, with Burmiester hot on her heals at 258.  Buser, now off of his 8 hour rest is blazing down the trail and is now at mile 252...then there is Mitch at 251, Dallas at 249, Joar at 239, Kaiser at 237, Neff at 236 (has taken his 8 hour rest) and Royer at 235 mile marker. 

As mentioned earlier the temps have dropped...and now have "warmed up" to negative 20!  The interviews on Iditarod.com do elude to the fact the mushers are not enjoying the temps.....it just makes it all the more harder to care for their dogs.  Hydration is key for both the 2 legged and the 4 legged with this kind of condition...they both have to eat more often to keep their energy up.  This is a long run from Tanana to Ruby.....119 miles!  So camping out on the trail will be done, even in the cold temps! 

A Few Pictures from the Restart in Fairbanks

Our Sponsor Dawg Chemo on Allen Moore's Team....he is center on the right!  He is a big reason why we went on our IditaTrip!!  We love you Chemo!  And of course Dee Dee...got to love Dee Dee!

Buser Sets Blistering Pace into Tanana

We are 216 miles into this race and Buser is setting a very fast pace  into Tanana.  Apparently he did not bootie his dogs in the last 66 miles over from Manley Hot Springs Checkpoint and that got everyone talking.  Martin claims he often trains his dogs "all natural" and was not concerned with the potential to create some premature sore feet...he felt the conditions were right for this last leg to be done without boots....which also gives the dogs more grip and thus more speed.  He was able to do this last leg at an average speed of 10.97 mph.  About an hour and a half later Hugh Neff came rolling into the checkpoint with 15 dogs at an average pace of 8.76 mph.  Hugh claimed his 8 hour rest upon arrival.  Aliy was right behind Neff with 16 powerhouse SP Kennel Sled Dogs (full disclosure...Im a SPK Team Supporter and Dog Sponsor of Chemo who is running on Allen Moores Team) with an average speed of 9.32 mph.  Aaron Burmeister is also in Tanana with 15 dogs shortly after Aliy.....he was traveling at an average speed of 8.8 mph. 

A lot of comentators are calling this a "Buser Trail" because he loves hard fast trails.  But with only 216 miles of a 968 mile race in the bag, A LOT can happen over the many more miles to go!  Stay tuned to IditaDacks for the BEST and ONLY Iditarod Race Coverage from the Adirondacks!

PS:  We loved the trip to Alaska, but we are sure glad to be back home in the Dacks with our dogs, cat, chickens and bees!  Thanks to Mom and Dad for holding down the Homestead, and Karen and Becky for taking care of our pup Whiskey...he was certainly happy to be reunited with his pack here at the Homestead!    

Beyond Manley Hot Springs - Kaiser and Mitch!

It looks as though Kaiser and Mitch blew through the Manley Checkpoint while most other Teams stopped here to rest.  Presently Kaiser is at mile 169, Mitch is 166, and then there is Buser at 163 and Royer at 162.  Its important to note bib numbers too at this point of the race since the 24 hour lay hour has not synched up the start differential in the line up.  Out of the 4 who left Manley, Kaiser has the biggest bib number of 54...the lower the number the more time is added to your 24 hour layover. You may remember Pete Kaiser won the Kusko 300 mile race last month...that is also a race that is run on a river....so Pete knows how to handle this kind of race.  Mitch is a bit out of his traditial conservative start of a race pulling out of Manley like that but again, Sorlie got the jump on the rest of the pack back in 2003 on a river run race...Mitch probably remembers that all too well.  OH, and its friggin cold there.....I mean COLD!  We left Fairbanks at 10 degrees on the plus side...since then, the temps plumeted to a reported 30 below in Manley!   

Sebastian Schnuelle posted a nice report on iditarod.com about the plethora of sled syles there are this year....I have to agree....when some blew by us at the restart I felt like they resembled more like a train than a simple tail dragger sled.  I think I may have made mention of this last year, but Im not a fan of the trailers.  The sit down sleds are fine...but it gets a bit ridiculous much after that...just my opinion!   

SO, Im BACK in the DACKS....IditaDacks Headquarters is UP and running after the IditaVacation....I'll keep ya up to date on this race from here on out!

Day 1 - Fast Paced Race!

As mushers approach Manley the prediction of a fast paced race is indeed taking hold.  I think everyone has 2003 on their minds...back then Sorlie took command early on and got so  far out ahead there was no way to catch him.  It appears no one is letting anyone out of their sights this time!  I'm still on route back to the Adirondacks...I'll post more later on from IditaDacks Headquarters.

The pack right now is being lead by Petite, with Buser, Burmeister, Neff, Dee Dee and Waerner all hot on his heals.  Bib numbers 71 (Sass).and 78 (Baker) are also making some nice moves to the front of the pack. It's EARLY yet....lots of miles yet to go!

Re-Start is TODAY!!

Today marks the beginning of the race and the end of our AWESOME Iditarod Vacation!!  The only thing keeping me from getting a little sad is the fact before we board a plane later this afternoon we will first witness each Team leaving Fairbanks for Nome....it's game time!  This has been an incredible experience....from attending the Banquet 4 days ago to witnessing the Ceremonial Start on Saturday to traveling 360 miles through beauty and ice covered roads to be here in Fairbanks to see the real start!  More to come.....much more.....it's Race Time!,  

Iditarod Bound!!

After 30 years of  following this Great Race....it's high time I go to Alaska and witness the Ceremonial Start and Restart up close and personal! So on March 4th I am IditaBound and I will continue the blog from there!!  When I return I will of course continue the Race Coverage from IditaDacks Headquarters here in the Adirondack Park.

With the race start being moved north to Fairbanks where the snow is (maybe they should hold it here in the Dacks!) I predict a fast paced race since most of the race will be on flat river trail.  There is always jumble ice and overflows to watch for on the river, as well as coastal storms that can change a race flow like last year....in any event expect a great race with great coverage here at IditaDacks!!

Here I am with Team Adirondack (lead dog Willow on the left....yearling Whiskey on the right) GO TEAM!!   LOL....Team Adirondack isnt quite ready for the Iditarod...but we do have a lot of fun on our trails here in the Dacks!