Updated: Thu 8:35 AM, Mar 08, 2018
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| By Leroy Polk |
It's the fourth day on the 2018 Iditarod trail, and mushers leaving the Ophir checkpoint are racing hard to reach the next checkpoint - Iditarod, the abandoned town from which the race itself takes its name.
Norway's Joar Leifseth Ulsom reached the checkpoint first, which is the official half-way point of the entire race. When Ulsom crossed the checkpoint line, he was awarded $3,000 worth of gold nuggets, a prize given to those who reach Iditarod first as part of the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award. Fellow Norweigian musher Lars Monsen reached Iditarod second, just after 5 a.m. Thursday morning.
Now, multiple mushers are flying out of the Ophir checkpoint to catch up. According to the GPS tracking the musher's locations, the closest musher to the checkpoint is French musher Nicolas Petit, racing under bib 46.
Close behind Petit are mushers Mitch Seavey, Ray Redington Jr., and Aaron Burmeister. Immediately behind them is a large pack of mushers all groupved very close together. As for who will reach Iditarod second, and who will take the lead once they do, is still very much up in the air, making the race a competitive one at this point.
This story will be updated when the first 5 mushers have reached Iditarod.
9 comments:
Norwegians are winning the Iditarod? Kind of sad.
Linda, it's an international race. Mushers from several countries compete every year.
I don't know why I didn't remember/know that. Well, good luck to all then. :)
Thanks for the update. As always, not much news about it down here.
You're welcome, ma'am. I understand the lack of attention; the only times the national press pays any mind to Alaska involves either Sarah Palin or drilling in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a deserted area of tundra & swamps about the size of Kentucky).
Thanks for the ongoing annual update Reverend. I had no idea about the prize - that is pretty cool!
You're welcome, TB. There are incentives for the leader all along the series of check-in points.
Woohoo! Go doggies!
:^)
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