2005 Iditarod Race Coverage--Ultimate Iditarod

Ultimate Iditarod's EXCLUSIVE 2005 Iditarod Coverage

Update 2--Warm weather may cause mushers to re-think their first-day strategies
March 6, 2:00 PM

Ultimate Iditarod's coverage of the 2005 Iditarod sponsored by:

By Ultimate Iditarod's Jim Gallea

With highs predicted to be near 40^oF, some onlookers may think the weather is perfect to begin a journey across Alaska. However, for the dogs and mushers of the Iditarod, this weather is not a welcome send-off. Unlike most sensible human beings, mushers prefer COLD weather. The reason is simple—the dogs run best at temperatures around –20 to +10^oF. Anything warmer than that, and the dogs start to get a bit hot while running—kind of like a human getting hot when hiking or jogging with the temperature in the high 80’s.

When the temperatures climb above 15 or 20 degrees, especially with the sun out, mushers must consider changing their running strategies to account for the warm weather. The most preferred strategic change is to rest during the “heat” of the day and run during the cooler parts of the evening, night, and morning. The problem today is that the race starts at 2 PM, so the teams are going to be running “in the heat.” In this case, the mushers are going to be very careful with their teams and employ some of the following strategies:

Many mushers will likely opt to go as slow as possible to help keep the dogs cool.
In addition, many mushers will take several short (about 5 minute) rest stops at shady places along the trail to allow the dogs to cool down and eat some snow (a common thing that sled dogs do for a “drink” of water while running.)
And finally, many mushers will likely run only a short distance out of the starting line before stopping to for their first real rest stop to await the cooler evening and nighttime temperatures.

If there is a saving grace today, it is the relatively overcast skies and the gusty winds. Both of these factors will help the mushers and dogs in the early miles of the race.

Warm temperatures on the day of the re-start have been fairly common in the last 10 or 15 years of the Iditarod. Mushers and dogs are fairly used to dealing with these temperatures at this point in the race. What makes this year’s re-start a bit different is the timing. Traditionally, the re-start of the Iditarod is scheduled for 10 AM. However, the Iditarod Trail Committee decided to change the timing of the re-start to 2 PM. The reasons for this were several, but some of the most noticeable advantages were to allow mushers and the general public more time to get to the re-start, located about an hour’s drive from Anchorage.

New re-start time may impact some mushers' decisions
The later time for this year’s re-start has caused some mushers to re-think their preferred start times. The teams do not start at the same time. This is for obvious reasons: imagine the chaos of nearly 80 teams and 1200 dogs leaving the starting line at the same time!! Instead, teams start at 2-minute intervals. This difference in start time is made up later in the race, so there’s not any kind of “head start” by starting earlier as opposed to later. In years past, with the 10 AM re-start, mushers wanted to start close to the front of the pack so that they could get in a few hours of good running before stopping for the “heat” of the day. Now, with the re-start coinciding with the “heat” of the day, many of the race’s top mushers are electing to start later in field to minimize the amount of time their teams are running during the warmest part of the day.

Mushers draw their start positions out of a boot, so how can they choose to start later rather than earlier? The answer is that there are three separate drawings for start position based upon when a musher signs up to run the Iditarod. All mushers who sign up in person at the Iditarod Trail Committee Headquarters on the day entries are first accepted (usually the last Saturday in June) are placed in the first “draw.” These mushers are the first to start the race. For example, if 30 mushers sign up in person on the first day of entries, those 30 mushers will draw for start positions 1-30. The second group in the “draw” is made up of mushers who sign up on the first day of entries, but do not do so in person (they mail in their entries or have another musher turn in their entry paperwork). These mushers start in the middle of the pack. The third draw is made up of all the mushers who sign up to run the race after the first day of entries. These mushers start at the back of the pack.

Top competitors such as Martin Buser and Jeff King, who normally sign up in person on the first day of entries, decided to wait to sign up so they could be in the last draw. The luck of the draw was in their favor; these two mushers start 78th and 79th, respectively. Charlie Boulding, another top contender, also signed up after the first day of entries, but Charlie has been doing this for years for his own strategic reasons. By contrast, defending Iditarod Champion Mitch Seavey signed up in person on the first day of entries and is starting 7th. There are a lot of factors that will decide who this year's champion will be. It's hard to tell how much of a difference today's start times and warm weather will make.

But one thing is for certain: The 2005 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is getting underway, and the mushers and dogs will face over a thousand miles of challenges before they get to Nome.

--Jim Gallea