From ADN.com – Schnuelle’s Report on Pete and the Pack of Three

Read the whole article here:

It surprised me a bit so see that Jake Berkowitz, Ray Redington, and Pete Kaiser stopped in Kaltag after a short 4.15 hr run. They sure are eating up the trail. I thought they would have gone to Tripod Cabin, camp there and than run to Unk. I can see a very distinct difference in attitude from the Quest to Iditarod. Questers are much more likely to camp out, like Michelle Phillips and Ken Anderson, who both did that move and skipped Kaltag. Bruce Lee said that very well: “If there would be no checkpoint, those mushers would not stop.” But now all three once again did a super strong run into Unalakleet with running 1.5 hours faster than John Baker and even 45 minutes faster than fast moving Dallas Seavey. Jeff King and Mitch Seavey both camped on their way to Unalakleet. So for now the front pack has reduced itself to 4 mushers, which I do not think are safe from that hard pushing trio of Jake, Pete and Ray

–Sebastian Schnuelle
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From Joe Runyan Blog – Baker Picks Kaiser and Berkowitz

From Iditarod.com-Joe Runyan.

1PM-  I was in the dog yard as Burmeister and Dallas Seavey booted dogs, at the same time noting that Zirkle was behind in schedule to the two.

Burmeister noted his apprehension about leaving Unalakleet because the myriad of snowmachine trails provided a lot of excuses for errant leaders.  Sure enough, he pulled the hook and promptly ending up guiding his dogs  back on the trail after negotiating half a dozen intersection.   In time, he got them rolling.

Dallas Seavey soon followed, both leaving around 12:40PM, just for the record.  Dallas stopped, switched a few dogs and was soon back on the trail within sight of the checkpoint and already with Burmeister.  I didn’t see Aliy leave, but it must have been fifteen minutes later.

Concurrently, another development

More action.   With a grand entry of loping dogs, Jake Berkowitz and Pete Kaiser come into Unalakleet holding hands.  They are driving gorgeous teams , but, unfortunately they are essentially 6 hours behind.  More on that in a moment.

While aliy is nearly ready to depart, we are diverted to a small emergency.   Berkowitz cut his hand with a knife while separating chunks of fish on the trail.  I happen to be there and immediately tell comm to arrange a medic to sew him up.  Knowing that it was really stupid to allow jake to continue caring for his dogs with a cut made with a knife that was cutting fish,  Mark Nordman, race marshal, and Larry Weslake logically suggested he get sewn up.  Bruce Lee, your commentator, and I, with the permission of officials, put straw under the dogs.

Back with Baker

Back in the headquarters  see John at 1PM, where he tells me he is playing it cautious and resting his dogs.  I told him about Berkowitz and Kaiser.  “There is still time for them to win the race.  I’ll go with them,” indicating he was not taking chances with his team.  He is going to generously rest his dogs.

My brilliant reply was, “Really, Kaiser and Berkowitz.”  John opined, “250 miles in the race, we keep forgetting to identify the competition.”

Final Thoughts

An airplane waits to take the Insider to Shaktoolik to witness the fight at the front.  Next report, Shaktoolik.

Weather  remains cold but uncommonly calm for a region that is known constant wind.

Delving into our collective memory, we can think of plenty of examples of well prepared teams roaring up from behind to win a race.   The early history of Ric Swenson, the 5x winner, was instructional in the 70’s and 80’s.

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Three on Three

Pack of Three into UNK officially in three minutes of each other.

Positions – Arrival Times – Trail Times

6- Jake Berkowitz  12:14:00- Trail Time 11h 1m
7- Ray Redington Jr 12:15:00- Trail Time 11h 2m
8- Peter Kaiser 12:17:00- Trail Time 11h 4m

Three must be our lucky number this year.

Arrived within 17 minutes of Mitch Seavey. Jeff King still on the trail.

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The Story of Three

ADN calls them the “Three Musketeers.” Although it sounds pretty cool, the Musketeers were, “All for one and one for all,” and this is not the case at all with these boys. Each of them would take whatever opportunity to take an advantage over the other if offered.

Pete has been traveling with Jake Berkowitz since before Cripple and along the Yukon they picked up Ray Redington Jr. All three mushers have led their little group and as they head into Unalakleet, Redington holds the lead. Pete led them down from Galena to Nulato, and it was a toss up from there.

The deal is for these guys, less traveling together, and more of the old phrase, “Keep your friends close, and your competitors closer.” These three teams have the fastest teams in the race right now and are steadily moving forward on the front pack. An Insider video of Aaron Burmeister in Unalakleet had him mentioning that the second pack was the one he was feeling pressure from. That second pack is our group of three.

The race is far from over and the real story will be when this small pack of three decides to make a real move for the front. Of course it will be dependent on how THEY look coming into Unalakleet.

In any case from here on out I am going to refer to this little group as the Pack of Three, because make no mistake, each of these guys can win it with the right combination of luck and performance.

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What a GREAT Dog Team! Into UNK

After 85 miles on the trail, moving at 9 miles and hour into Unalakleet is truly a mark of a Great Dog Team!

Pete and the Team are arriving into Unalakleet as I type this, and at a bit after 12pm, that puts their time up with the best (Again!)

They have made up a great deal of time on the leaders over the last 100 miles and as Team Kaiser moves into Unalakleet, it will be the first time in many hundreds of miles where they were in a checkpoint with the Lead Group.

Anticipate a bit of a longer rest here. I would think at least 5-6 hours after the direct run.

Go Team Kaiser! What a run!!

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A New Race Image Materializes

Within the next hour or so, the entire story of the 2012 race is going to evolve as the portage takes its toll on the mushers. Aliy Zirkle saw her lead vanish to 50 minutes, Mitch Seavey and Jeff King have slowed dramatically, and the “Three Musketeers” have steadily moved forward.

Aaron Burmeister is himself sick, though his dogs look great. Dallas Seavey seems to be the horse to watch at this point, but we are still so far from the Finish, that it is really tough to say. In a matter of 100 miles the race image is quite different. Another 100 miles, maybe another image? Quite possible.

Pete and the Team are now about 12 miles from Unalakleet. Jeff King is stopped on the trail and the Tracker showed Mitch Seavey slow as he passed him. This will be a big story for the news organizations.

One editorial comment on those organizations– They are notoriously wrong and have absolutely no loyalty! In the last 24 hours I have seen headlines such as “A Dynasty Tumbles” in reference to Lance Mackey. “First Woman to Win Iditarod” for Zirkle. Bothersome, but also part of the game. As for us, we’ll just keep it real and report what we see.

Anyone in Unalakleet? Head on down to the checkpoint or better yet onto the trail if you can to see the three mushers go by. I’d love to see them in one photo. Thanks in Advance!!

Go Team Kaiser!

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