Iditarod Mushers Still in the Money Heading for Nome

March 14, 2012|By Chris Klint | Channel 2 News

Courtesy Sebastian Schnuelle

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race mushers continued to stream into Nome Wednesday following Dallas Seavey’s victory Tuesday evening,as a still-packed field made its way to the Burled Arch with prize funds still at stake.

As of 4:16 p.m. Wednesday, race standings showed 14 mushers into Nome, with the top 30 finishers slated to split a pool of $550,000. A hefty chunk of that has been awarded to Seavey for his winning run, as well as Aliy Zirkle for her second-place showing and Ramey Smyth for claiming third, but it’s still possible to be in the money in this year’s race.

Aaron Burmeister was the first of the Wednesday arrivals, taking fourth place at 1:04 a.m., with Peter Kaiser putting in at 2:06 a.m. in fifth. Other prominent mushers into Nome included Ray Redington Jr. in sixth at 3:19 a.m., Seavey’s father -- 2004 champion Mitch Seavey -- in seventh at 4:10 a.m., 2011 champion John Baker in ninth at 4:25 a.m., and popular cancer survivor DeeDee Jonrowe in 10th at 5:43 a.m.

Channel 2 Iditarod commentator Sebastian Schnuelle says Brent Sass, an Iditarod rookie with six Yukon Quest runs under his belt, arrived in Nome at 11:25 a.m., taking 13th place under sunny skies before a cheering crowd. As he was met by his father Mark Sass, Brent hailed the performance of his 13 dogs on the trail, noting that he planned to be back for next year’s race with much of his young team after so many of them made it to the finish line.

According to Schnuelle, Sass did very respectably for a first Iditarod run -- and handling a young team so well is a sign of future success.

“While trail and weather conditions along the 2012 Iditarod were relatively easy for the most part, a stiff north wind picked up along the coast towards the last quarter of the race,” Schnuelle said. “Those are the conditions a ‘wild and free team’ excels in, as Brent is known to train hard and in any conditions.”

Thus far, 13 of the Iditarod’s original 66 teams have scratched or been withdrawn, with Kirk Barnum scratching in Kaltag Tuesday night because his 10 dogs weren’t enjoying the trip and Michael Suprenant scratching in Unalakleet Wednesday morning for the good of his nine-dog team.

Of the 39 mushers still en route to Nome, the next expected to arrive per GPS tracking Wednesday appeared to be Paul Gebhardt who had passed Safety, followed by Hugh Neff and Michelle Phillips. The farthest musher back along the trail was Bob Chlupach, who was resting in Kaltag.

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