St. Patty's day has advanced into mid-evening in Alaska as of this post. 28 of the starting line 49 are into Nome. Our scratched list stands at 6, leaving a hearty 15 teams mushing to Nome. They've been on the historic Iditarod trail for over 11 days.
There are a lot of mushing greats amongst our current 28 finishers, but there's a few in particular I have yet to mention... Mille Porsild, the first woman into Nome this year in 14th, after a 5th place finish in 2021 and a rookie of the year 15th place finish in 2020. Speaking of Rookie of the Year, our first rookie to cross the finish line this year was Hanna Lyrek, claiming 19th place. Although this is her first Iditarod, she's no stranger to mushing and her experience showed this year. Three other rookies in addition to Hanna are into Nome right now. And at the other end of the spectrum? Jeff King. Now this guy? First Iditarod appearance in 1981. Took a decade off. No big deal. Since his return in 1991? 20 top 10 finishes, 4 of which were championships. Today? He's a grandfather of four and just finished his 30th Iditarod. With a dog team he first drove days before the race. I mean, that's just... it's just...
While I struggle to find an adequate way to end the prior paragraph, let's return to the trail. 15 mushers still out there. Four are out of Safety as of this post, and should be in to Nome before long. Two mushers are in White Mountain, taking their final 8 hour rest and then will head out on the final 77 miles. Five mushers, all rookies who have been traveling a good portion of this race together (which I think is a fantastic show of solidarity myself), were out of Elim (race mile 852) over the afternoon Thursday. Finally, we have four mushers in Koyuk - race mile 804 with 171 miles left to go. Half rookies, half Iditarod vets. One of these will almost certainly be our Red Lantern and final musher into Nome.
I've gotten a few communiques from the twins and hopefully will have a longer chat with them in the next day or two. In the meantime, and particularly if you don't follow Seeing Double on Instagram (where I posted these earlier Thursday), enjoy a couple videos. The first is footage Anna got of the insane winds as they left White Mountain and mushed to Nome. Be sure your sound is turned up, as that definitely takes it up a notch.
The second video is something Anna and Kristy crafted themselves earlier this year. They needed something to present to a sponsor. And then they heard about some fans at a retirement community in Oklahoma City and crafted it into a special hello for the residents. I think it is really well done and gives viewers a lot of insight on what happens before the Iditarod happens. Ya know - this crazy thing Kristy and Anna call life. They work a lot, these girls.
More Friday and/or over the weekend.
There are a lot of mushing greats amongst our current 28 finishers, but there's a few in particular I have yet to mention... Mille Porsild, the first woman into Nome this year in 14th, after a 5th place finish in 2021 and a rookie of the year 15th place finish in 2020. Speaking of Rookie of the Year, our first rookie to cross the finish line this year was Hanna Lyrek, claiming 19th place. Although this is her first Iditarod, she's no stranger to mushing and her experience showed this year. Three other rookies in addition to Hanna are into Nome right now. And at the other end of the spectrum? Jeff King. Now this guy? First Iditarod appearance in 1981. Took a decade off. No big deal. Since his return in 1991? 20 top 10 finishes, 4 of which were championships. Today? He's a grandfather of four and just finished his 30th Iditarod. With a dog team he first drove days before the race. I mean, that's just... it's just...
While I struggle to find an adequate way to end the prior paragraph, let's return to the trail. 15 mushers still out there. Four are out of Safety as of this post, and should be in to Nome before long. Two mushers are in White Mountain, taking their final 8 hour rest and then will head out on the final 77 miles. Five mushers, all rookies who have been traveling a good portion of this race together (which I think is a fantastic show of solidarity myself), were out of Elim (race mile 852) over the afternoon Thursday. Finally, we have four mushers in Koyuk - race mile 804 with 171 miles left to go. Half rookies, half Iditarod vets. One of these will almost certainly be our Red Lantern and final musher into Nome.
I've gotten a few communiques from the twins and hopefully will have a longer chat with them in the next day or two. In the meantime, and particularly if you don't follow Seeing Double on Instagram (where I posted these earlier Thursday), enjoy a couple videos. The first is footage Anna got of the insane winds as they left White Mountain and mushed to Nome. Be sure your sound is turned up, as that definitely takes it up a notch.
The second video is something Anna and Kristy crafted themselves earlier this year. They needed something to present to a sponsor. And then they heard about some fans at a retirement community in Oklahoma City and crafted it into a special hello for the residents. I think it is really well done and gives viewers a lot of insight on what happens before the Iditarod happens. Ya know - this crazy thing Kristy and Anna call life. They work a lot, these girls.
More Friday and/or over the weekend.
