2006 Turbo Ice
1:00 p.m.
March 9, 2006

by Tyrell Seavey

Ultimate Iditarod's coverage of the 2006 Iditarod sponsored by:

The Iditarod.com stats are just about impossible to read right now due to the mushers opting to take their 24’s all over the map. Because of this, I went to the pawn shop downtown and upgraded my crystal ball to a 2006 Turbo Ice model. Who new those 2005 models had such a low trade in value?

A lot of readers have been asking for a clarification about the mandatory rest system the Iditarod race utilizes so I will clear that up before I statistically analyze (that is the way we say ‘guess’ in college) exactly where all the mushers stand compared to one another. The race requires that every musher stops for a 24 hour break at some point along the trail. You can take this break at any official race checkpoint but most mushers opt to take it between McGrath and Cripple. The actual mandatory stop time evens out the start differential so the lower the bib number a musher has the longer they have to stay. The idea is that the musher who left the starting line first has an approx. three hour lead over the team that left last so they make that up at the 24. Each musher must also complete an eight-hour rest at White Mountain and another at any checkpoint on the Yukon River. The eight-hour breaks are even for everyone. There is no make-up time tacked on to them.

Swingley and King… they are the guys to talk about right now. Depending on how hard King pushes up to Cripple he will be either right ahead of or right behind Swingley when they pull out. In the past King has chosen to leave his 24 conservatively but he has some catching up to do so I would anticipate him making a move through this middle part of the race. Even if the two of them leave Cripple nose to tail Swingley has an undeniable advantage. By choosing to take his 24 later in the race he is going to come back onto the trail in the wee hours of tomorrow morning over a hundred miles fresher than King. This difference may not be immediately apparent but over the next 600 miles that disparity could cause King some trouble.

Although these guys are making waves at the moment, there are still 12 or so teams in the hunt and as we have seen in the past being in front right now can be as big of a disadvantage as it is an advantage. I would expect Iten, Bjornar, Seavey, Gebhardt and Baker to make some incredible moves in the latter parts of the race so if you are rooting for one of them do not despair. There is plenty of time for some shakedown before things get tight on the Coast.