Takotna

by The Associated Press Wednesday, March 11, 2009 TAKOTNA, Alaska -- Aaron Burmeister was the leading the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race as of about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, but others were jockeying to pull ahead. The Nenana musher pulled into the Takotna checkpoint at 2:44 a.m. Wednesday, followed at 3:03 a.m. by Skagway's Hugh Neff . Sebastian Schnuelle -- a Canadian fresh off a win in the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race -- arrived at 3:14 a.m. Defending champion Lance Mackey arrived at 4 a.m., followed by former winners Jeff King and Mitch Seavey . Takotna is 712 miles the finish line of the 1,100-mile race to Nome.

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.

by Kevin Wells Wednesday, March 10, 2010 MCGRATH, Alaska – It's chilly in Interior, and there's a group of teams in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race that is content with chilling in Takotna. For those who live near an Iditarod checkpoint, musher arrivals are the equivalent to Christmas morning. Tuesday night in McGrath , Jeff King played the role of Santa, being the first to emerge from the darkness. The four-time champion added to his collection of Iditarod prizes.

A new lead pack has emerged on the Iditarod trail, with four mushers pressing on past Wednesday's lead pack, which remained in Takotna Wednesday afternoon. The four top mushers are now in Ophir. Now leading the Last Great Race is Robert Nelson of Kotzebue, who just briefly stopped in Takotna and has now checked into Ophir. Behind him in a tight pack -- three mushers in four minutes -- are Trent Herbst and Cim Smyth. Kelley Griffin came into Ophir just nine minutes behind the pack.

by The Associated Press Wednesday, March 11, 2009 TAKOTNA, Alaska -- Four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Martin Buser breezed through the tiny town of Takotna , spending less than a minute Wednesday before jumping on his sled runners and snatching the lead. He checked into Ophir a little before 5 p.m. Buser chose to push on but other mushers -- many of them the superstars of the sport -- were pausing in Takotna, giving their teams a long rest at the checkpoint about 700 miles from the finish line in Nome . There was a method to their madness, they said.

It was a somber day in Eagle River as a husband said goodbye to his wife and daughter. A funeral service was held Saturday for 48-year-old Carolyn Sorvoja and 10-year-old Rosemarie Sorvoja. They lost their lives in a plane crash on March 4th near Rainy Pass on its way to Takotna. The Sorvojas were heading to Takotna to volunteer at the Iditarod checkpoint. The plane wreckage was found on March 5. They were killed along with 56-year-old pilot Ted Smith, a retired Anchorage Police Department Sergeant.

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher Trent Herbst was first into the ghost town of Iditarod -- the halfway point of the race -- Thursday morning. Herbst arrived at 5:29 a.m. with 14 dogs, making it from Takotna to Iditarod in slightly over 14 hours. He said the trail from Ophir was in good condition, and added that the appearance of the northern lights overnight was a big bonus. As the first musher into Iditarod, Herbst wins this year’s GCI Dorothy Page Halfway Award as well as $3,000 in gold nuggets.

Iditarod musher Aliy Zirkle is the first to leave Kaltag, starting her 85-mile trek to Unalakleet. Zirkle arrived in Kaltag at 11:14 a.m. and took a 5h 41min rest before taking off again. The next musher to arrive after Zirkle was John Baker, 3hr 18min later.  Following Baker was Mitch Seavey, Aaron Burmeister, Dallas Seavey and Jeff King.  No other musher has left as of the posting of this story. As of today, four mushers have scratched on the trail.  Silvia Furtwangler in Nikolai Wednesday, Ryan Redington in Takotna Wednesday, Wade Marrs in Ophir Thursday, and Zoya DeNure in Cripple Saturday.  Visit KTUU.com's special Iditarod section and watch the Channel 2 newscasts for more coverage from the trail, with social-media updates from KTUUSports on Twitter and Channel 2 Sports on Facebook.

by Kevin Wells Wednesday, March 5, 2008 MCGRATH, Alaska -- The Last Great Race is nearly halfway complete. Before too long, the first musher should reach Cripple. It's a pretty good bet that musher will be Paul Gebhardt. He was the first out of Ophir, pulling out at 12:52 p.m. Cripple is 59 miles from Ophir. He was followed out of the checkpoint by Hugh Neff at 4:18 p.m., Zack Steer at 6:13 p.m., Silvia Wills at 6:38 p.m. and DeeDee Jonrowe at 6:45 p.m. The rest of the top teams seem settled in for their 24 hour layovers.

by Kevin Wells Tuesday, March 9, 2010 MCGRATH, Alaska -- Last year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ended up taking a slow pace because of deep snow, and while this race began on a firm pack, snow accumulation was a major factor the first 200 miles. Mushers are adapting to the changing trail conditions during the early days of Iditarod 38. On Monday morning teams were greeted by several inches of fresh snow at Finger Lake , and mushers were forced into a low-risk approach.

It was a somber day in Eagle River as a husband said goodbye to his wife and daughter. A funeral service was held Saturday for 48-year-old Carolyn Sorvoja and 10-year-old Rosemarie Sorvoja. They lost their lives in a plane crash on March 4th near Rainy Pass on its way to Takotna. The Sorvojas were heading to Takotna to volunteer at the Iditarod checkpoint. The plane wreckage was found on March 5. They were killed along with 56-year-old pilot Ted Smith, a retired Anchorage Police Department Sergeant.

Iditarod musher Aliy Zirkle is the first to leave Kaltag, starting her 85-mile trek to Unalakleet. Zirkle arrived in Kaltag at 11:14 a.m. and took a 5h 41min rest before taking off again. The next musher to arrive after Zirkle was John Baker, 3hr 18min later.  Following Baker was Mitch Seavey, Aaron Burmeister, Dallas Seavey and Jeff King.  No other musher has left as of the posting of this story. As of today, four mushers have scratched on the trail.  Silvia Furtwangler in Nikolai Wednesday, Ryan Redington in Takotna Wednesday, Wade Marrs in Ophir Thursday, and Zoya DeNure in Cripple Saturday.  Visit KTUU.com's special Iditarod section and watch the Channel 2 newscasts for more coverage from the trail, with social-media updates from KTUUSports on Twitter and Channel 2 Sports on Facebook.

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.

The Iditarod leaderboard made a push for Takotna on Tuesday evening with musher Aliy Zirkle still leading the race standings and past champions trailing in the other spots. Zirkle checked into McGrath at 8:32 p.m. and left at 8:36 p.m. Tuesday with 16 dogs. She checked in to Takotna thirty minutes before midnight. As for the rest of the top 5 teams, the time differences are slimming down to the minutes with less than 15 minutes separating each team. Last year's champ John Baker and 2004's champ Mitch Seavey checked into Takotna at the same time at 12:09 a.m. Wednesday.

From Bear Creek Cabin we went to Nikolai. The Bear Creek Cabin is aptly named. Walking around it, there is no doubt that some bear uses it as a scratch post, with claw marks all over the place. Kevin, which I have seen many times on the trail over the years and he works with the Iditarod Historical Trail Committee, and of whom I still do not know the last name was at Bear Creek with his friend Dave. Both had some pretty interesting stories of the Iditarod Invitational Running and biking race.

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher Trent Herbst was first into the ghost town of Iditarod -- the halfway point of the race -- Thursday morning. Herbst arrived at 5:29 a.m. with 14 dogs, making it from Takotna to Iditarod in slightly over 14 hours. He said the trail from Ophir was in good condition, and added that the appearance of the northern lights overnight was a big bonus. As the first musher into Iditarod, Herbst wins this year’s GCI Dorothy Page Halfway Award as well as $3,000 in gold nuggets.

A new lead pack has emerged on the Iditarod trail, with four mushers pressing on past Wednesday's lead pack, which remained in Takotna Wednesday afternoon. The four top mushers are now in Ophir. Now leading the Last Great Race is Robert Nelson of Kotzebue, who just briefly stopped in Takotna and has now checked into Ophir. Behind him in a tight pack -- three mushers in four minutes -- are Trent Herbst and Cim Smyth. Kelley Griffin came into Ophir just nine minutes behind the pack.

Most of the first 30 mushers into the Takotna checkpoint on the Iditarod trail have declared their 24-hour layovers. Just four mushers have gone beyond. Those that stayed had great things to say about the hospitality. "When I got here, they fed me a steak. When I got up, they fed me a breakfast burrito. I said, 'Do you do this for everybody?' (They said) 'We've been doing this for years.' I must have been a fool for the last 20 Iditarods not stopping here for the 24,” said four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser, who was the first team to the check point.

by Kevin Wells Wednesday, March 10, 2010 MCGRATH, Alaska – It's chilly in Interior, and there's a group of teams in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race that is content with chilling in Takotna. For those who live near an Iditarod checkpoint, musher arrivals are the equivalent to Christmas morning. Tuesday night in McGrath , Jeff King played the role of Santa, being the first to emerge from the darkness. The four-time champion added to his collection of Iditarod prizes.