Iditarod Day 9: Update #2

Iditarod Day 9: Petit says dog fight on trail brought his team to a stop, Kaiser leaves Koyuk in first

Nic Petit discusses the race with Channel 2 as he pulled into Unalakleet during the 

2019 Iditarod race.

By Leroy Polk | 

Posted: Mon 6:34 AM, Mar 11, 2019  | 

Updated: Mon 3:39 PM, Mar 11, 2019

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - 3:34 p.m. Update:
Joar Leifseth Ulsom is back on the trail in 2nd place with eight dogs after five hours and 

16 minutes in Koyuk.

2:40 p.m. Update:
Pete Kaiser has checked out of Koyuk in the lead with nine dogs as of 2:15 p.m. Monday.

Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Jessie Royer remain in Koyuk as of 2:40 p.m.

9:30 a.m. Update:

Iditarod Insider interviews with Nic Petit shed light on what took him out of first place 

early Monday morning.

According to Petit, his dogs flew out of Shaktoolik "like a rocket" but, when one of his 

dogs went to go to the bathroom, another dog "got a hold of him at one point, he jumped 

on him while he was on the ground."

Petit then yelled at the older dog to leave the younger dog alone, and that's when Petit said

the other dogs changed.

"Everybody heard daddy yelling. Which doesn't happen. And then they wouldn't go 

anymore. Anywhere," he said.

After that, the dog team pace went to a crawl, and the dogs barely managed to walk to

a cabin after a forced rest on the sea ice, which took up even more time.

"They know where the cabin is. I'm really surprised that they didn't just go to the cabin,"

Petit said. "They're all fine, they all ate good, no orthopedic issue. Just a head thing."

This is the same stretch of trail where Petit faced misfortune last year, going off trail and

wasting precious time. This detail wasn't lost on Petit, who said the delay was weighing 

on him personally as well.

"I ain't moving, so I'm not doing that great," Petit said in the trail interview.

According to GPS data and the Iditarod standings site, Pete Kaiser checked in to Koyuk,

and is in the lead.

8:50 a.m. Update:

According to officials with the Iditarod's public relations team, musher Robert Redington

has scratched.

He left the race toward the back half of the pack, at the checkpoint of Kaltag. His scratch

was recorded at 8 a.m.

"Redington scratched out of the best interest of his race team," officials wrote in a release

Monday morning. "Redington had eight dogs with him at the time he made the decision to

scratch."

8:15 a.m. Update:

Three mushers have pulled ahead of previous leader Nic Petit, and are several miles away

from reaching the checkpoint of Koyuk, according to GPS data.

Pete Kaiser, Joar Leifseth Ulsom, and Jessie Royer all passed Petit when he unexpectedly

rested on the trail out of Shaktoolik. This is the second year in a row when Petit lost the lead

on the path between the two checkpoints.