Layover

by Channel 2 News Staff Wednesday, February 24, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- After enduring the pound of 1,100 miles, the leaders of the world's longest snowmachine race are resting in Nome on their 36-hour layover. Chris Olds and Tyler Huntington own a lead of 1 hour, 41 minutes over defending champions Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad. The top five are all set to come off their break Thursday morning with only a 4 hour, 20 minute gap between them. Another notable scratch is 2009 runners up Tyson Johnson and Tyler Aklestad who threw in the towel in Galena due to mechanical failure.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race's lead temporarily changed hands Wednesday, as most mushers settled down at Takotna for a required 24-hour layover -- but a trailblazing father and son forged their way on to Ophir. GPS tracking and race standings both showed four-time champion Martin Buser and Rohn Buser at Ophir Wednesday afternoon, arriving at 12:19 p.m. and 1:34 p.m. respectively. A third musher, Jim Lanier, left Takotna headed for Ophir at 3:07 p.m. The Busers' lead is likely to be taken back tomorrow, however, by Tuesday's leader -- Aliy Zirkle, winner of the 2000 Yukon Quest -- who has already had more than 16 hours of downtime after checking into Takotna at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Iron Dog day 2 ended with some leaderboard changes as teams pushed through Galena and declared 8-hour layovers in Unalakleet on Tuesday morning. Team 16, Minnick and Olstad, continue to lead the pack with Team 10, Morgan and Olds, in second place, and followed by Team 6, Huntington and West, rounding out the top 3. Several teams faced tow-in situations including Team 11, Palin and Davis, with a severely worn belt, but teams made the necessary fixes. Race marshall Chris Graeber said many team were stacked up going through Poor Man, which is pretty usual for teams on the trail.

Martin Buser's decision to take an early 24-hour layover in the 2013 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race apparently paid off as he took the race's lead Thursday, leaving one question on observers' minds: Can he keep it? As of 2:45 p.m. Thursday, race standings showed Buser as the first musher out of Iditarod at exactly 2 p.m. Lance Mackey claimed a $3,000 prize and a seven-course meal for reaching the race's midpoint at 8:36 p.m. Wednesday, making the 80-mile run from Ophir to Iditarod in 14 hours, 51 minutes.

Lance Mackey narrowly retained his lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Wednesday afternoon, pressured by other mushers on his heels and Martin Buser's rise through the ranks after an unconventional fast run to Rohn. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, GPS tracking and race standings showed Mackey leading the race about 20 miles out from the town of Iditarod, with Sonny Lindner's team in second place about five miles behind him. Jeff King, the only other musher to leave the previous checkpoint of Ophir, was about in third 15 miles behind Lindner.

STORY UPDATED AT 8:38 p.m. 2/18/13: On day two of the Iron Dog race, five teams scratched, leaving 34 teams on the trail, as of early Tuesday evening. Iron Dog officials said mechanical issues hit three teams and injuries took two others, and said it has “ not yet received any word of any life threatening injuries .” Details of the injuries have yet to be released, but a couple of rookie teams scratched at the McGrath checkpoint due to injuries, including Team 4 of Chad Dow and Chris Kruse after declaring their 14-hour layover and took out Team 5 of Ray Chvastasz and Jens Hopson.

STORY UPDATED AT 10:49 p.m. 3/8/13: Martin Buser checked into Eagle Island shortly before 10 p.m. Friday, holding onto his lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Aliy Zirkle remained in second place checking out of Grayling shortly before 6 p.m. with some shakeup in the remaining top five. Rookie Joar Leifseth Ulsom, who hails from Norway, was listed in third, followed by Nicolas Petit in fourth, and Jessie Royer in fifth who has yet to declare an eight-hour layover. After Eagle Island, teams will approach Kaltag on the Yukon River, which is about 335 miles west of Fairbanks.

(8:34) OK, one last one -- Van Meter and McKenna are in and out of Nikolai ---------------------------------- (8:26) Palin/Quam are in McGrath, where they'll have to take a 10-hour layover. Checked in at 8:20. Speaking of 10-hour layovers, it's about time I get some shuteye as well. Back at it in the morning! Stay close to the Iron Dog's tracking page -- that's as fast as I'm getting information. Checkpoints call here where it immediately gets posted to that page.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Raceis halfway over, with a few mushers delaying their mandatory 24-hour layovers -- and abandoning most hope of catching up with the leaders -- in an all-out drive for the trail's midpoint. Race standings updated at 2:33 p.m. Thursday say musher Jim Lanier was the first to reach Cripple at 1:55 p.m., darting out of Ophir at 11:25 p.m. Wednesday. The run gives Lanier GCI's Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award, as well as a $3,000 prize, for being first to reach the village halfway along the race's 975-mile course.

The Ambassador Team arrived in Nome during the early evening on Monday. They made it in record time, and they had many good things to report, including good trail and solid ice at Golovin Bay. But the 2012 Iron Dog trail is still fraught with danger, including stumps, water hazards, deep snow and rutted trails. Team 39, Aklestad and Loyer, led most of Monday, but busted A arms left them waiting for parts in Ruby. Several other teams faced tow-in situations last night and today, including Team 11, Palin and Davis.

STORY UPDATED AT 10:45 p.m. 3/11/13: The race to White Mountain started Monday night with race leader Mitch Seavey heading out in first place. The 2004 champ and his 10 dogs hit the trails at 9:25 p.m. after reclaiming the lead earlier in the evening. Last year's runner up Aliy Zirkle rested only 1 hour and 43 minutes at Elim and took off with 10 dogs less than an hour after the race leader. Teams must take a mandatory eight-hour layover in White Mountain and the following checkpoint is in Safety with less than 100 miles to Nome.

STORY UPDATED AT 10:49 p.m. 3/8/13: Martin Buser checked into Eagle Island shortly before 10 p.m. Friday, holding onto his lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Aliy Zirkle remained in second place checking out of Grayling shortly before 6 p.m. with some shakeup in the remaining top five. Rookie Joar Leifseth Ulsom, who hails from Norway, was listed in third, followed by Nicolas Petit in fourth, and Jessie Royer in fifth who has yet to declare an eight-hour layover. After Eagle Island, teams will approach Kaltag on the Yukon River, which is about 335 miles west of Fairbanks.

Lance Mackey narrowly retained his lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Wednesday afternoon, pressured by other mushers on his heels and Martin Buser's rise through the ranks after an unconventional fast run to Rohn. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, GPS tracking and race standings showed Mackey leading the race about 20 miles out from the town of Iditarod, with Sonny Lindner's team in second place about five miles behind him. Jeff King, the only other musher to leave the previous checkpoint of Ophir, was about in third 15 miles behind Lindner.

Martin Buser's decision to take an early 24-hour layover in the 2013 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race apparently paid off as he took the race's lead Thursday, leaving one question on observers' minds: Can he keep it? As of 2:45 p.m. Thursday, race standings showed Buser as the first musher out of Iditarod at exactly 2 p.m. Lance Mackey claimed a $3,000 prize and a seven-course meal for reaching the race's midpoint at 8:36 p.m. Wednesday, making the 80-mile run from Ophir to Iditarod in 14 hours, 51 minutes.

STORY UPDATED AT 10:46 p.m. 3/4/13: 27 teams made their way into Rohn Monday and many of the top contenders decided to keep going towards Nikolai about 75 miles away. 11 teams checked out of Rohn led by Paul Gebhardt and Aliy Zirkle. Both teams departed around 7:30 p.m. Monday, with Gebhardt having a four-minute jumpstart. Martin Buser and Matt Failor were the first teams into Rohn, however both opted to take their 24-hour layover. Top 10 race standing just before 11 p.m. Monday: 1              Paul Gebhardt 2              Aliy Zirkle 3              Jeff King 4              Michelle Phillips 5              Mitch Seavey 6              Ray Redington Jr 7              Ken Anderson 8              Nicolas Petit 9              Peter Kaiser 10            Jake Berkowitz Editor's Note: KTUU's Neil Torquiano contributed to the Monday night update.

STORY UPDATED AT 8:38 p.m. 2/18/13: On day two of the Iron Dog race, five teams scratched, leaving 34 teams on the trail, as of early Tuesday evening. Iron Dog officials said mechanical issues hit three teams and injuries took two others, and said it has “ not yet received any word of any life threatening injuries .” Details of the injuries have yet to be released, but a couple of rookie teams scratched at the McGrath checkpoint due to injuries, including Team 4 of Chad Dow and Chris Kruse after declaring their 14-hour layover and took out Team 5 of Ray Chvastasz and Jens Hopson.

The Iron Dog is the unique sporting event that is a hybrid. It is a 2,000 mile snowmachine race, and that makes it the ultimate test of endurance. But it is also a distance race done at a phenomenal pace. It would be the equivalent to seeing a marathon foot race in which the humans run at the speed of 100 meter sprinters. The north-bound trail trail of the Iron Dog race follows the northern route of the Iditarod sled dog race to Nome. This portion of the course has 16 checkpoints where drivers fill up their snowmachines with gas and can take a layover.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Raceis halfway over, with a few mushers delaying their mandatory 24-hour layovers -- and abandoning most hope of catching up with the leaders -- in an all-out drive for the trail's midpoint. Race standings updated at 2:33 p.m. Thursday say musher Jim Lanier was the first to reach Cripple at 1:55 p.m., darting out of Ophir at 11:25 p.m. Wednesday. The run gives Lanier GCI's Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award, as well as a $3,000 prize, for being first to reach the village halfway along the race's 975-mile course.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race's lead temporarily changed hands Wednesday, as most mushers settled down at Takotna for a required 24-hour layover -- but a trailblazing father and son forged their way on to Ophir. GPS tracking and race standings both showed four-time champion Martin Buser and Rohn Buser at Ophir Wednesday afternoon, arriving at 12:19 p.m. and 1:34 p.m. respectively. A third musher, Jim Lanier, left Takotna headed for Ophir at 3:07 p.m. The Busers' lead is likely to be taken back tomorrow, however, by Tuesday's leader -- Aliy Zirkle, winner of the 2000 Yukon Quest -- who has already had more than 16 hours of downtime after checking into Takotna at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Iron Dog day 2 ended with some leaderboard changes as teams pushed through Galena and declared 8-hour layovers in Unalakleet on Tuesday morning. Team 16, Minnick and Olstad, continue to lead the pack with Team 10, Morgan and Olds, in second place, and followed by Team 6, Huntington and West, rounding out the top 3. Several teams faced tow-in situations including Team 11, Palin and Davis, with a severely worn belt, but teams made the necessary fixes. Race marshall Chris Graeber said many team were stacked up going through Poor Man, which is pretty usual for teams on the trail.