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Nome

Actual mileage from Wasilla: 1015 miles

 March 12, 6:00 a.m.

Charlie Boulding mushing down the Caribou Flats.

    When we pulled into Unalakleet Sunday night I was riding a broken machine.  The break was very similar to what happened to Bill's machine in the Burn, but instead of having to fly a mechanic halfway across the state we just took it to the local City Shop where the resident welder fixed it up with a little elbow-grease and a lot of innovation.  It took less than an hour and we were able to get going by noon on Monday.  

    The problem with all this was that current race leader, Martin Buser, was expected to finish in Nome around eight this morning, some 20 hours later.  That meant that we had to ride the remaining 270 miles to Nome in that time period.  Well, we did it.  We rode for 17 1/2 hours straight stopping only long enough to get the current updates and fuel up.  Needless to say I'm sore.

Sunset near Shaktoolik.

    When we left Unalakleet there were about 20 teams ahead of us so we had a lot of really good opportunities to get some video of all the front teams.  We passed my dad in Koyuk.  He was asleep when we got there and since we were just pulling through we really didn't get a chance to talk.  He really seems to be happy with his team, small as it may be, and it's good to see he had the 'gas' in the tank to go straight through Elim without stopping to rest.  

     Right now we are working out of the Iditarod headquarters in Nome waiting for Martin Buser to come into town.  He was reported through Safety checkpoint at 5:43 a.m.  Martin is well on his way to breaking the Iditarod speed record; the current record holder, Doug Swingley, finished at 10:48 a.m. the year he broke the record.  It usually takes about 2 1/2 hours by dog team to get from Safety to Nome.  That would put Martin in here at 8:13 a.m., some 2 hours and 35 minutes ahead of record pace!

    We'll keep you posted as things develop here on the Iditarod trail....

Tyrell Seavey

© 2002 Ultimate Iditarod, Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs, Seavey's Iditarod Racing Team
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