Well, it is most of the time. Today, not so much.
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The Iditarod site puts Jeff King first into the checkpoint at Galena this morning, with Aliy Zirkle and Aaron Burmeister not far behind.
Four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Jeff King is the first musher in to Galena, earning a five-course meal -- as well as $3,500 in cash and a complimentary bottle of Dom Perignon -- as he continues to lead the race following an overnight breakout from Ruby.
http://iditarodch2.tv/2015/03/king-picks-up-meal-to-go-with-lead-as-he-reaches-galena/
Martin Buser and Jessie Royer round out the top five, but they're still in Ruby (the previous checkpoint). Ruby is the checkpoint nearest where the normal route from the south intersects with this year's northern trail.
Most of the mushers are due for a mandatory 8-hour layover soon, so standings will change again.
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| 2015 Iditarod route shown as a light blue line. Click to enlarge. |
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In a sad, related story: In the minute it took Lance Mackey to walk to his dogsled just feet from the Tanana Community Hall where mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race stop to rest, his hands went cold despite the thick, fleece gloves protecting them.
Lance has won the Iditarod four times, and set records doing it, in the late 2000s.
... Mackey suffers from Reynaud’s syndrome, which limits blood circulation in his hands. That makes him extra-susceptible to cold, and the temperature has been dropping to 30 below zero at night.
... Jason Mackey, also an Iditarod musher, said Lance's hands have now taken on a blackish hue like those of a mechanic working on a greasy car all day. ... “It’s his last Iditarod,” Jason told Alaska Dispatch News in an interview Wednesday. “He won’t be racing it no more. It’s time to turn the page.”
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3 comments:
Heh. Worked in yard in a t-shirt today. Put laundry out on line. Heh.
Enjoy, PH. We haven't had much actual winter weather this year, so the single digits are kinda nice. But the ground is still bare.
Rev Paul,
Sorry for the delayed response. It's been busy around here getting the fencing up and trying to start the garden.
A sore throat, and cold temperatures calls for some hot tea with honey. Hope your throat heals and you feel better soon.
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