Good Evening Race Fans!
When you hear barking in the middle of the night at a checkpoint, it’s bound to be a Team getting ready to leave. Team Kaiser was ready to go after a 4 hour break at the halfway point of this year’s Iditarod Trail. Pete and the Team are currently running in 7th position just in front of fellow musher Matt Hall and about 6 miles behind 2023 Iditarod Champion Ryan Redington. The race is still really close and we will start to see how things are shaking out as Teams head down the Yukon towards Kaltag.
Temperatures are 14 above in Ruby with clear skies for the 70-75 mile run into the first Yukon river checkpoint of the race. Richie related in tonight’s Kaiser Racing Radio that it is about a 9 hour run that culminates with some tougher trail before reaching the old mining village.
Teams will run through the old mining ghost towns that brought thousands of hopefuls in search of gold and prosperity.
Mushers have dreams of prosperity as well as they wonder if their strategies will pay out at the finish line in Nome. Richie told of many different options for Teams as they attempt to break hundreds of miles into smaller sections interspersed with breaks.
Nic Petit will undoubtably win the race to the river and a gourmet meal, but know one knows if the strategy of the 24 hour layover so late in the race will pay off.
At this point in the race with river village checkpoints fairly close together, breaks along this next section to allow a leapfrog into Galena are on many minds.
Cold weather with minus 20’s and wind will make for cold nights until the finish for Teams. Luckily Teams won’t be facing the wind until they reach the coast, but the possibility of drifting trail may be an issue.. Take a look at the forecast:
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with a low around -6. North wind around 5 mph.
Friday
Partly sunny, with a high near 7. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around -24. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday
Sunny, with a high near -2. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around -28. North wind 10 to 15 mph.
