Iditarod 2008: Week One

It is drawing to the end of week one of the Iditarod, the Last Great Race, as some call it. The 1,112 mile route from Anchorage to Nome in getting shorter as mushers and their teams make the run to Nome. Lance Mackey, last years winner is still out front but it is a battle with 4 time winner Jeff King. Which one will be first under the burled arch in Nome? Or will another team creep ahead and win the Iditarod?

Mackey and King have both left the checkpoint in Galena, while the rest of the top ten are either in Galena or on their way from Ruby to Galena. The next checkpoint for Mackey and King is Nulato, a run of 52 miles from Galena.. Below is a copy of the mileage chart for the 2008 Iditarod.. The first number is the mileage to the next checkpoint. The second number is the number of miles already completed. The third number is the number of miles remaining to Nome. The distance from check point to checkpoint is printed after the second name of each checkpoint. This chart is copied from the official Iditarod web page, www.iditarod.com.

Checkpoints Distance between Checkpoints Distance from Anchorage Distance to Nome Total Distance 1112 Anchorage to Campbell Airstrip 20 20 1112 Campbell Airstrip to Willow 29 49 1063 Willow to Yentna Station 52 115 997 Yentna Station to Skwentna 34 149 963 Skwentna to Finger Lake 45 194 918 Finger Lake to Rainy Pass 30 224 888 Rainy Pass to Rohn 48 272 840 Rohn to Nikolai 75 347 765 Nikolai to McGrath 54 401 711 McGrath to Takotna 18 419 693 Takotna to Ophir 25 444 668 Ophir to Cripple 59 503 609 Cripple to Ruby 112 615 497 Ruby to Galena 52 667 445 Galena to Nulato 52 719 393 Nulato to Kaltag 42 761 351 Kaltag to Unalakleet 90 851 261 Unalakleet to Shaktoolik 42 893 219 Shaktoolik to Koyuk 48 941 171 Koyuk to Elim 48 989 123 Elim to Golovin 28 1017 95 Golovin to White Mountain 18 1035 77 White Mountain to Safety 55 1090 22 Safety to Nome 22 1112 0

This morning there are still two teams in Takotna. This means these teams have 693 miles still to run where as the leaders have under 393 miles. The weather has been warmer than usual which causes the trail to be slower. This will not result in a record time for this years race, but it is easier on the teams and mushers. They will see temperatures in the upper 20s to nearly 40 today depending on what part of the trail they are on. As they approach the coast at Unalakleet located on Norton sound in the Bering sea the temperatures will be colder. They run close to the coast the rest of the way to Nome with the 48 mile stretch from Shaktoolik to Koyuk being run on the frozen sea.

I will be updating progress in the days to come. I think the winner will be in Nome mid week, but the race isn't over until the last musher has reached the finish line. The final banquet honoring all the mushers is set for March 16 in Nome. If there are still any teams on the trail then, a separate dinner is held for them when they are all in Nome. At this final event the Red Lantern Award is presented to the last team to reach the finish line. More on that in a separate article.