Iditarod Race Updates and Coverage--Ultimate Iditarod

We caught up! Jim is resting here at the Cripple checkpoint and we were able to talk with him for quite a while. Jim is very pleased with how his team is performing and is excited about the rest of the race. Before I get into the 'nitty-gritty' details of Jim's progress I should first describe the Cripple checkpoint. Every year, a few weeks before the Iditarod, a race official flies out here over the trail and picks a spot to land the Cripple checkpoint. Over 100 flights later there are four heated tents, 15 race workers and enough food and supplies for all 65 teams to camp here. It's impressive.

Jim is currently driving 13 dogs, which is a large team for this point in the race, and is very confident with their ability to cover a lot of ground in a hurry. One concern he does have is with his leader situation. Two of the three dogs that Jim has dropped were leaders. He still has a fairly powerful

arsenal of front-end dogs, but if the trail were to get rough or a storm blew in he would be compromised. One of Jim's less-experienced leaders, Willow, is really stepping up to the plate in this time of need. She has been leading for a large percentage of the time so far and, assuming all goes well, will continue to be a driving force in Jim's team for the next several days. Don, one of the other leaders, has a sore shoulder which requires nearly an hour of massage at every rest stop. Since Jim is only staying six hours per checkpoint it is really cutting into his available sleep time, but Don is a tough old salt and Jim willingly takes the time to fix him up.

Jim spoke for a few moments about his sled. That may seem like a small detail, but after you've been standing on the back of the thing for 450 miles you either love it or hate it. Fortunately he loves it. Jim built the sled this winter, customizing it in many ways, and he just couldn't say enough about how tough it was even in these extreme conditions.

As for Jim's personal condition - he's hanging in there! He was real happy to see us and was excited to see we were making it but I did catch a hint of depression in his attitude. Don't worry about Jim though; it's totally normal for a musher to be exhausted and concerned at this point in the race. Just think about it from his point of view. He has been under a tremendous amount of pressure and stress the last 450 miles and he's still a little less than halfway there! Things will get better as he continues on. Both the musher and the dogs settle into a rhythm and everything just gets easier. Plus, they get tougher as they go on so they little things don't matter as much any more.

Editor's Note: Jim just pulled out of the checkpoint at 4:16 p.m. with all 13 dogs. The trail to Ruby is hilly and it crosses numerous glaciated creeks, so hang on Jim! He will be camping before Ruby so don't expect him too soon.

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