4:30 p.m.
March 15, 2006
by Tyrell Seavey
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Ultimate Iditarod's coverage of the 2006 Iditarod sponsored by:
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Mitch
claimed his fifth top-ten finish today when he crossed the finish line in 9th
place. This was his 12th consecutive
Iditarod finish and his 13th total.
He went under the Burled Arches with nine dogs that seemed to be in a
hurry to get to the finish line. Mitch
is happy with the race. Obviously he
would have liked to get here sooner, but he is proud of his dog team and all
things considered he is pleased with the trip.
The more times he runs this race the better he handles the stress, sleep
deprivation, etc. and this year seems to be the best yet. He is by no means lively, but is alert and
coherent enough to answer all of our questions about the race. He made the point of telling me about Hammer
and Mr. T. They are a couple of regular
old dropouts that normally would have never started with our main race team,
but thanks to a couple of minor injuries in the weeks leading up to the race
they came in as back up. Not only did
these dogs finish with Mitch, but they excelled. He said that was the first time in their
careers that they acted like they wanted to really make a difference in the
team. I was chatting with him as I am
writing this update and he just drifted off so I guess the interview is
over.
Danny is
moving up the trail at a good clip and when I checked this morning he was still
maintaining a 16 dogs team, which is the last full
string in the competition. He should be
arriving in