$10K would go a long ways. Probably enough to get some asks. Naming dogs probably isn’t it though lol. Maybe pups in a litter but they wouldn’t be running in the race for a few years. Here’s a quick little read on your typical musher and what it takes financially to be an Iditarod musher. https://www.ktoo.org/2022/03/08/costs-of-iditarod-trail-sled-dog-race/ And another good one. https://www.marketplace.org/2020/03/06/three-mushers-afford-iditarod/
Sunday Night Update: Jessie Holmes remains in first. He’s resting at mile 659 in Grayling. He got in at 2:35 PM local time. 5 mushers are resting at the checkpoint before Grayling, Shageluk (Shag-e-luck) at mile 631. Paige Drobny got in at 11:35, then Matt Hall at 12:13. Both appear to possibly be taking their 8 hr rest. The other three mushers are Michelle Phillips, Nicolas Petit, and Mitch Seavey. Former winner Ryan Redington took his 8 hr at the checkpoint before and is now catching up at mile 615. We are up to 6 scratches, 4 rookies and 2 veterans. Shoutout to the Grayling wildland firefighter team. We had a forest fire by my cabin a year and a half ago and they spent a couple weeks fighting it and the cleanup after
Monday Night Update: Jessie Holmes is the first to complete the detour route and is back in Kaltag at mile 785, got in half an hour ago. Matt Hall is camping out at mile 749. Been there for a couple hours. Paige Drobny is at mile 742 and is on the move. ***Important note*** Drobny and Hall have taken their 8 hr break and Holmes has not. In 4th place is Michelle Phillips at mile 722 and moving. Mitch Seavey, the most veteran musher in the field is in 5th at mile 715 and resting. Because most mushers rest for ~5 hrs for Holmes to take his 8 at some point he’ll need to rest an extra 3 hours than normal. This essentially puts him and Drobny in a tie right now. Both still have 13 dogs on the line. Ryan Redington, the other previous winner in addition to Seavey, has dropped back a bit and is now in 10th place and down to 9 dogs, the only competitive musher in the single digits. Next checkpoint is Unalakleet at mile 866 where the mushers finally hit the ocean.
For sure, there’s another 3 days of mushing, just have to make up a tiny amount per hour. I wouldn’t discount Mitch Seavey either.
The closest finish was in 1978. Dick Mackey finished one second ahead of Rick Swenson. Mackey's time was 14 days, 18 hours, 52 minutes and 24 seconds. The winner was decided by the nose of the lead dog across the finish line.
What a kick to the balls. Race for 18 days only to lose by a second. One less piss and you’re the champ.
Tuesday Night Update: Jessie Holmes was first to reach Unalakleet (You-nuh-luh-cleat), mile 866 of the race, and the first checkpoint on the Pacific Ocean/Bering Sea/Norton Sound. Being first to Unalakleet he receives 1 ozt of gold nuggets as a prize. Matt Hall was 3 hours behind him. Both have left Unlakleet and are at miles 881 and 872 respectively and are running. Paige Drobny is resting at mile 855. Mille Porsild and Michelle Phillips are in 4th and 5th at miles 828 and 822 and are running. Former champions Mitch Seavey and Ryan Redington are miles 808 in 6th and 785 in 11th. Seavey is running, Redington is resting. Holmes has 11 dogs, Hall 10, and Drobny 13. Next checkpoint for the leaders is Shaktoolik (Shack-too-lick) at mile 908. Finish line is 1128 miles this year. Shak is one of the windiest parts of the trail and marks the point where mushers start going over the ocean as a shortcut. It’s uncommon for the wind to be less than 20-30 mph. Shaktoolik is where Leonhard Seppala and Togo picked up the diphtheria serum (having just mushed from Nome to Shak) and crossed the ocean in -92° windchill conditions. They traveled 260 miles in 3 days. In those conditions even modern teams would struggle to accomplish. Seppala and Togo (far left)
Don't get me wrong, I love the updates and am more into following this thing then ever in my life. I just find it funny that it's like 1960's reporting sporting events, how we gotta read daily updates in the morning newspaper.
It’s dumb that most info is tucked behind a paywall. Wonder what the subscription brings in vs expanding the brand of the race.
Wednesday Night Update: Jessie Holmes was first into Koyuk (Coy-yuck) at mile 958/1128 and rested for 5 hrs. Is now at mile 1000 and running. Matt Hall was second into Koyuk 5 hrs later. As soon as Matt got in Jessie packed up and took off as well. Bit of a cat and mouse going on with the two. Matt is now at mile 976 and is resting. Jessie will need to rest soon though too, allowing Matt to catch back up. Paige Drobny continues to be solidly in 3rd. She just finished a rest in Koyuk and is now running again. Porsild and Phillips are still in 4th and 5th at miles 933 and 927, on the ocean. Former champ Mitch Seavey is resting at mile 924 before hitting the ice. The other former champ, Ryan Redington, is resting at Shaktoolik at mile 908. Holmes has 10 dogs, Hall 11, Drobny 12. Only 23 mushers remain in the race. Three checkpoints remain before Nome for the top 3, Elim (E-limb) at 1008, White Mountain at 1057, and Safety at 1106. Between Elim and White Mountain will be the first elevation gain for the mushers in this iteration of the race. There is a mandatory 8-hr stop in White Mountain. Friday should be when the first teams finish.
What’s the fanfare like at the finish line? Do people anticipate when the winner will be there and show up to celebrate?
Tubi (or someone like that) should take it on. They could have a few reporters that record updates every 6 or 12 hours, have some drones out getting footage of teams with some amazing scenery, throw in footage of teams resting. Stream it all 24 hrs with on screen advertising and just loop the reporter updated every 15 minutes or something. I know I would check in periodically for the updates and stay for the scenery & dog piles.
Similar to the masters with piped in birds, some piped in wolf howls and grizzly growls in the background
They do all this, they have 3-4 reporters (who are mushers themselves so they are super knowledgeable) that are at various checkpoints following the mushers. They have web cams set up to watch the teams in the dog yards at the checkpoints. They interview the mushers when they can. They just haven’t monetized it with ads and put it behind a $40 paywall.
There is no way a sponsor wouldn't jump on that for more than what the paywall is getting. Blue Buffalo or Purina or someone I'd bet their pay viewers total is pocket change too
Thursday Night Update: Jessie Holmes was first into White Mountain. Got in at 8:39 AM local time. Took his 8 hr required rest and left an hour ago. Matt Hall got in 3 hours later and is still waiting for his 8 hr to be up. Paige Drobny came in 3 hours later herself and is resting. Michelle Phillips, Mitch Seavey, and Ryan Redington are the next three en route to White Mountain. 71 miles from White Mountain to Nome. Should be about a 10 hr run if they don’t rest. Looks like Holmes will win but it’s not shoe in. A few years back a musher was in 3rd at this point and his dog team refused to mush. Rather than force them to go, the musher fed them and bed them again and waited til the dogs wanted to go. Dropped all the way to 20th. The 55 mile to go mark is where Balto started his leg of the Serum Run in 1925. The last checkpoint before Nome is called Safety, 22 miles out. This is where Balto’s musher was supposed to pass it off to the next team but said LEEROY JENKINS. And now we all know Balto.
PETA is quite aggressive in trying to shutter the race. Not only do they go after the big advertisers, they go after individual musher’s sponsors.
Holmes dropped one in White Mountain and is down to 10. TBD on Hall, he leaves in half an hour and we’ll know then. Came in with 10.
Having been raised on looney toons I’ve got a plan. I’ll buy $500 worth of steaks, have a drone airdrop them on the trail, Holmes’ puppies will get fed, fat, and happy….and fall asleep. Surely it’s been done before.
This was average speed between the last two checkpoints. Jessie going 8.1 currently, Matt 7.3. Lead up to 23 miles now
Holmes is 17 miles out and 23 miles ahead of Hall. This thing is Joever and he should be in between 6:30-7:00 AM EDT. Two or so hours from now.