As the Mushers head onto the flats outside of Shaktoolik they are facing a bit of a ground storm. Luckily it is night and it will be easier to see the trailmarkers. Dee Dee is breaking the trail, so that is helping those behind her as aell. The Rest factor may be something to look at as we head north into Norton Bay.
From Norton Sound 150 Facebook:
Total rest taken so far:
DeeDee Jonrowe 11hrs 3mins
Chuck Schaeffer 10hrs 59mins
Martin Buser 10hrs 48mins
Gerry Willowmitzer 10hrs 47mins
Aaron Burmeister 9hrs 57mins
Pete Kaiser 9hrs 49mins
They have a total of 18 hours mandatory to take prior to reaching White Mountain. In white Mountain they have another mandatory 6hr layover.
This puts the top five spots into limbo in more ways than one. Dee Dee Jonrowe has a hard lead at this point in the race, but the 2-5 positions are a little softer. Our favorite Team have a bit over a 2 hour deficit that they need to make up which means that Dee Dee and Gerry Willomitzer can rest a bit shorter and stay on the trail longer. This section of the trail may take more out of teams than others though, so the times into Koyuk will be the real story. It will be tough to have to stay and watch other teams hit the trail while having to spend that last bit of mandatory rest.
Here are my calculations:
Musher – Present Position – Out of UNK – Rest Differential – Calculated Out Time – Actual Position
Dee Dee Johnrowe – 1 – 16:39 – O Differential – 16:39 – 1
Pete Kaiser – 2 – 17:02 – 1 Hour 14 Minutes – 18:16 – 6
Aaron Burmeister – 3 – 17:08 – 1 Hour 6 Minutes – 18:14 – 5
Gerry Willowmitzer – 4 – 17:33pm – 16 Minutes – 17:49 -2
Martin Buser – 5 – 5:40pm – 15 Minutes – 17:55 – 3
Chuck Schaeffer – 6 – 6:06pm – 4 Minutes – 18:10 – 4
So Stacked up by Rest Differential, the race looks a whole lot different:
Dee Dee Johnrowe – 1 – 16:39 – O Differential – 16:39 – 1
Gerry Willowmitzer – 4 – 17:33 – 16 Minutes – 17:49 -2
Martin Buser – 5 – 17:40 – 15 Minutes – 17:55 – 3
Chuck Schaeffer – 6 – 18:06 – 4 Minutes – 18:10 – 4
Aaron Burmeister – 3 – 17:08 – 1 Hour 6 Minutes – 18:14 – 5
Pete Kaiser – 2 – 17:02 – 1 Hour 14 Minutes – 18:16 – 6
What this doesn’t tell though, is the speed of the mushers and how the added rest during the latter part of the race may improve the performance of the teams. Go Team Kaiser!
