Eagle Island Camp

Saturday, March 8, 2 p.m.

Mitch Seavey giving his dogs some food while taking his 24 hour rest in Kaltag

Rookie musher Randy Chappel as he travels down river a mile from Kaltag

BEING CONSERVATIVE
ROOKIE MISTAKE
RACE BACK ON


BEING CONSERVATIVE

As discussed in a previous update, strategy is very important for the competitive dog musher. A huge part of that strategy is where the mushers take their mandatory 24-hour rest. At this point in the race, with most of the competitors either taking their mandatory rest or having already completed it, a great amount of each individual's strategy is being revealed.

Just yesterday while Mitch Seavey was in Kaltag taking his 24-hour rest I was able to have a good conversation with him about his strategy for the race. So far in the race, Mitch has been going about things differently then he usually does. In past years, Mitch liked to run in the front of the pack early on and he would push his dogs to be there and stay competitive. This year however, Mitch decided to start off slower, give his dogs more rest and be conservative in his schedule. So far I believe this is paying off for him - not necessarily in his current position, but in his potential for a strong second half of the race. He still has a large team with fourteen dogs pulling him down the trail and they are in good condition. While stopped in Kaltag, his dogs were chowing down on all the food he placed before them and were resting well. His plan is to continue giving the dogs more time resting then they spend running and as he gets further into the race. Then he can make his move and pass some of the teams that are ahead of him. He is hoping that his conservative strategy will leave him with a good-sized strong dog team. This strategy is new to Mitch but I believe it will pay off for him in this year's race.


ROOKIE MISTAKE

Also taking his 24-hour break in Kaltag yesterday was Randy Chappel. Randy is a rookie in this year’s Iditarod and is doing well. However, every rookie year is not without it’s mistakes due to lack ofexperience.

Rookie musher Randy Chappel as he travels down river a mile from Kaltag

Ray Redington Jr. gets his cooker started so he can feed his dogs

On the first day of the race, Randy had happen to him what most mushers consider their worst nightmare. He was separated from his team. Randy was camped out about eight miles from Nenana and had been there for about five hours when he started to get ready to leave. He packed everything up, bootied his dogs, and started hooking their tuglines up. Just when he was hooking the last dog's tugline up, all the other dogs had finally had enough standing around and they all jumped into their harnesses together. This would have been fine if Randy had had the team tied off to something large enough to hold them but all he had been able to find when he stopped was a tree about four inches in diameter. The dogs then broke the tree and took off down the trail before Randy could jump on the sled. This left Randy walking and worrying about his dogs. Randy said "I am a rookie and it was a rookie mistake." A person on a snowmobile just happened to be coming back up the trail at the same time and was able to stop Randy's team only about a mile and a half from where he had lost it. When a musher loses a team it is always very scary because there are so many things that can go wrong with the team when they don't have a driver. Thankfully in Randy's case everything worked out well.


RACE BACK ON

Many of the top competitors are now finishing up their full day of rest and are getting back out on the trail. Robert Sorlie finished his break in Eagle Island and left a little before five this morning. He is now on the trail chasing down Jeff King who went to Anvik to take his long break. Sorlie seems to be in the driver's seat so far through the race and is competing the way he wants to - not letting anyone else influence him.

Martin Buser wrapped up his break in Kaltag and is currently taking rest in Eagle Island before he pushes on down the Yukon River.

Ramy Brooks left Eagle Island at about 11:30 am on his way to Anvik. His dog team seemed reluctant to leave and not all that perky so I suspect he will have a hard time holding on to the third position that he is currently in.

Many of the other teams have finished their 24s in Galena and Kaltag and are currently on their way to Eagle Island so the race is back on.