Competition Close as Teams Prepare to Leave Sourdough
1:45 AM, Sunday, February 23, 2003

By Ultimate Iditarod's Tyrell Seavey and Jim Gallea

    Rookie musher Nikolai Buser, son of four-time Iditarod Champion Martin Buser, will leave Sourdough in first place shortly after 3:30 AM this morning.  One minute later, two-time Junior Yukon Quest Champion Ellie Claus will depart with hopes of catching Buser.  Just nine minutes behind Claus, Tessa King, daughter of three-time Iditarod Champion Jeff King, will depart Sourdough, followed only four minutes later by Dallas Seavey.  Rounding out the top five is Max Kornmuller, who will leave just a few minutes behind Seavey.  Remember that Kornmuller reported losing 36 minutes after taking a wrong turn early in the race, but is now less than a half hour behind Buser.

    Clearly, this race is too close to call.  Minutes and seconds will count in the last 77 miles.  The mushers will have ideal racing conditions with packed trails and temperatures around zero degrees.  There's no room for error now.

    Further back in the field, a "convoy" of three mushers--Katrina Rix, Jeremy Hoover, and Jacob Gauthier--arrived together to bring the first half of the race to a close.  These teams will depart Sourdough around 8 o'clock this morning.

    Currently, a number of the mushers are sleeping comfortably with their dog teams while another group of mushers, including second place musher Ellie Claus maintain the Junior Iditarod tradition of telling stories around a fire.  Claus is also celebrating her 17th birthday today by sharing a chocolate birthday cake with everyone assembled.

    Stay tuned to Ultimate Iditarod.  We'll have more as the front teams approach the finish line at Wolverine around 11 o'clock this morning.

© 2003 Ultimate Iditarod, Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs, Seavey's Iditarod Racing Team
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