The Iditarod -- An Update -- Absolutely Nothing To Do With The Bakken

A note to the granddaughters

 Update

March 14, 12:45 a.m.: What a heart breaker! Aliy is expected to come in second to Dallas Seavey, who at age 25, becomes the youngest person to win the Iditarod, this the 40th anniversary of the famous race.

Original Post

We are getting down to the wire!

At the last update, the mushers were less than 70 miles from the finish line, and they are moving about 7 miles per hour.

Before the race started, my older granddaughter and I each picked three female mushers to follow. Her best choice was DeeDee. Neither of us picked the woman who is likely to be one of the top three finishers.

My daughter and I are rooting for a woman to win, any woman to win, and Aliy Zirkle is giving the men a race for the money. She has been in the number one position much of the race. At the last checkpoint, the news was discouraging. The leader departed the most recent checkpoint almost three hours ahead of Aliy.

It turns out that the leader left three hours early, but immediately -- out of sight, and just minutes from the checkpoint -- stopped to rest. Clever, foxy, sneaky, but all's fair in love and war.

Indeed, recent GPS readings showed that Zirkle was just one mile behind Seavey. And as the race between those two heats up, they'll both be keeping an eye on Ramey Smyth who has come all the way back from 30th place to third, hot on the trail of the two leaders.

Most mushers started out with 14 - 16 dogs. The leader is down to 9 dogs; Aliy is down to 10 dogs.

Live coverage here. 

Standings here.