37th Iditarod - Day 12 CHAMPIONSHIP Report

by Jim Keller March 18 2009 12:57

As predicted Lance Mackey, winner of the past 2 Iditarods, crossed under the famous Burled Arch in Nome, AK at 11:50 am AK time today. He spent 9 days, 21 hours and 30 minutes on the trail. This was not a record time but the weather was windy and cold reaching -70 wind chill. Many Musher's had to scratch due to these tough race conditions.

Thousands of race fans and media, braved cold weather at -15, were on hand to see this historic event. Lance is only the 3rd Musher to win 3 in a row and now has won seven 1,000 mile races in the past 5 years. He is certainly worthy of being named along with the greatest Musher's of all time. He was a runner up for an ESPN Espy award the past 2 years. He should win the award this year for best outdoor athlete.

We have some awesome Bering Sea footage and finish line footage and photos. Watch for this in the future on this web site and in our 2009 DVD.

Schnuelle and Baker will come in 2nd and 3rd. These 2 Musher's ran a great race.

Mitch and Dallas Seavey are in White Mountain resting for 8 hours. There will be a great race for 4th thru 9th when they are allowed to leave.

Stay tuned and thanks for visiting our site. 

 

 

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Travel Update - Keller's Arrive in Nome

by Jim Keller March 12 2007 16:55

Myself, Rosanne and Brian arrived in Nome, AK today. It was cold and sunny with light winds. Nome is not accessible by road and our cell phones do not work.
 
We saw Mount McKinley, the highest point in North America, from the plane and it was an awesome sight.
 
To our surprise the 1925 ceremonial 800 mile sled dog serum run, made up of 13 teams, arrived on the Bering sea cost at 1pm AST - see the photos and videos.
 
We walked around Nome and took photos of this historic Bering sea village where the Iditarod stops. We have the famous burled arch in the photo gallery.
 
We were the guests of the Seavey family for dinner and had moose and caribou casserole.
 
It's 3am your time so the day is over. We look forward to the winner of the Iditarod arriving in Nome within the next 24 hours.
 
Yesterday, we made the trip back to Anchorage, traveling through Minneapolis, and we had a few interesting encounters ...
 
First, a couple with ties to Xavier High School (Appleton, WI) recognized us. They thanked our family and company for supporting Xavier and the community. We had a quick chat and they wished us well in our Iditarod adventures.
 
Later, while in the Northwest Airlines Club, we were introduced to Ken Privratski, VP and general manager of Horizon Lines out of Anchorage (a customer, too!). Mr. Privratski said he's familiar with J. J. Keller's Iditarod involvement and that his company also sponsors a musher ... they sponsor Aliy Zirkle, bib number 16. An Iditarod enthusiast, he has taken a snowmachine out to a few checkpoints so he could watch and greet the mushers as they passed through.
 
Yet another interesting meeting was with Dr. Carl Rogge, VMD. We really enjoyed speaking with Dr. Rogge. He was eager to give us an interview that conveyed information about the dogs.  He's been traveling from Maryland to Nome for nine years as an Iditarod volunteer.
 
In the hotel lobby, we spent some time with the lead photographer from Versus, formally the Outdoor Life Channel. He told us about the absolute brutal conditions of the trail which he encountered first hand. Yesterday, he and a colleague both smashed their snowmachines while in pursuit of some first-ever trail footage. After a short trip to the hospital and ruining a portion of their photography equipment, they'll be back at it today, hoping to catch up with the race leaders.
 
As of this posting, race leaders are:
 
1. Lance Mackey
2. Martin Buser
3. Paul Gebhardt
4. Zack Steer
5. Jeff King
 
It's estimated that a winner should arrive between 2-4 a.m. Alaska time. We will have photos and video of the top finishers as they cross the famous Burled Arch in Nome ... so be sure to check back!

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