I know that Rev. Paul is going to be covering this much better than I, but the race is off and running, with 79 Mushers leaving Fairbanks on a 1,000 mile run to Nome, AK.
Like many others, I was betting on Brent Sass, recent winner of the Yukon Quest last month, to finish strong here. Imagine my surprise when he got disqualified at the third checkpoint for having an iPod with him because Wifi devices are verboten. Damn, Brent...Your dogs are going to be pissed at you.
Alan Moore, who was second-place finisher in the Yukon Quest, is still in play here though. Currently he's in 34th place.
First pace right now though is Ailiy Zirkle, one of my favorites. She's been running dogs for a long time now and I think that her experience is gonna reap dividends this year. Someone up there was supposed to get me her phone number (you know who you are) but apparently that didn't work out.
Just as well though. I've got me a new obsession in the form of twin mushers Anna Berington (currently 26th place) and Kristy Berington (23rd place). They're young and cute and did I mention TWINS?
I wouldn't count Dallas Seavey out though. He won it last year and he's currently in 4th place with his father, Iditarod legend Mitch Seavey, right behind him in 5th.
Should be an interesting race indeed.
I should probably mention that Aliy Zirkel is married to Alan Moore ... but you knew that, right?
ReplyDelete>:)
Yeah, but she's been with three different mushers now since I started following her, so I figure that sooner or later, it's gonna be my turn. Still, I'm probably going to hedge my bets and root for the twins, because what guy wouldn't want two cute gals running around his place? I mean, that's one for cooking AND one for cleaning...and TWINS!
DeleteEighth grade and starting in a new school. Homeroom included identical female twins and we were all about the same height. Flash to graduation, I am still the same height, and the identical twins are six foot tall. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure that there is not an Iditarod slot for teams consisting of two shepards?
John in Philly
They're not in Iditarod but I've been following Team Maligator on FB
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Maligator/1410959559198485?ref=ts&fref=ts