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. 

Lance Mackey is expected to arrive in Nome at noon AK time. This will be his 3rd Championship in a row and has only been achieved 2 other times. He will have won seven 1,000 mile races in the past 5 years. This is a feat that has never been done.  

Schnuelle and Baker are in White Mountain. Burmeister is close behind. All Musher's need to take an 8 hr rest there.  

The buzz is about Lance Mackey and his 3-peat but the unique story is how did Dallas Seavey, age 22, end up in 6th place so far!

Mitch and Dallas are 25 miles from White Mountain and within a mile of each other. Father and Son will probably come into Nome together in 5th and 6th place. This will be the story other than Lance. 

Dallas was the first of 15 Musher's to break out, leave Shaktoolik and head into a ground blizzard. Winds were 40 mph and wind chill was reported at -60 to 70 below zero. Dallas knows you need to be tough to compete in this race. Other than Lance and Mitch he has beaten every world champion.

Once Lance arrives I will be calling in a news release. I will also be doing a live report at 3:30 pm AK time, 6:30 pm WI time, on AM 1570 the Score in Appleton - please tune in.

This will be a very exciting day and when the Seavey men arrive we will be there with the family for this historic event.  

The team made it to Nome with one near miss but all ended well. Rosanne's birthday is today and the past few years we have been here. This makes for a stronger marriage - HA HA. 

Back to the race - Mackey is in Elim at mm 825 and is the only Musher that has moved in hours. Mackey reported his run to Koyuk was the toughest of this race and maybe ever. Baker and Schnuelle are moving now and are out of Koyuk at mm 787.    

M. Seavey and Burmeister are out of Shaktoolik but have not moved in 18 hours. Dallas Seavey and 14 others are in Shaktoolik and have not moved in 14 hours. If the tracker is right a few Mushers returned and lost mileage. 

The weather must be unbearable, with reported 35mph winds and -60. Neff suffered frostbite on his face and received medical attention. 3 rookie mushers, Darst, Matray and Packer have all scratched. Packer was rescued during an airplane search. A Musher fell asleep, woke up when he hit the ice, and was helped by the Musher in front who caught the team and by the Musher who was following that picked him up. This race could go down in the history books for many reasons.

Microchipping is used on each dog. This is like the collar tags used for identification. Each dog is scanned, the record comes up, and all the information is available at all the checkpoints. This along with the collar tag allows each dog to be returned to their owners. With 1,200 dogs in the race imagine what would happen without a system.   

I hope the ground blizzards cease and the race heats up. As of now there are only 3 Mushers moving.

Stay tuned and thanks for visiting the site. The next blog will be very interesting !! 

Lance Mackey is still in the lead at mm 761. Lance was the 1st to arrive into Unalakleet and won the Wells Fargo Gold Coast trophy and $2,500. He won 2 other checkpoint prizes worth $6,500. If he wins the race he receives $69,000 plus a new truck.

King is at mm 731, Backer, Neff and M. Seavey are at mm 729. Dallas is 10th at mm 701.

This part of the race is very cold and windy. Crossing Norton Sound is always risky with temperatures of -40 with 30+mph winds. It was reported that this race has seen an 80 degree swing in temperature.

Rookie Musher Kurt Reich (Bib #63), from Colorado, decided to scratch on Sunday and will call it quits at Ophir. I have noticed over the years that it is very hard to compete with the Alaskans. They train in this brutal climate and it can't be duplicated.

Dog collar tags are use to identify each dog. Each mushers receives tags with their number and a letter. Each dog is then recorded and this report is used to make sure each dog is returned to the owner.  You can find a collar tag from the 2007 race in the Iditarod display case in our corporate office.

Rosanne & I are leaving for Nome in an hour so the next report will come from the Bering Sea. I hope cell phones and the internet are in service this year!!

Note: I will cover dog microchipping in my next blog - thanks for visiting our site.

Rosanne and I just arrived in Anchorage. The clear view coming in was awesome with snow covered mountains everywhere. It's a beautiful sunny day, with light winds and 23 degrees. We leave tomorrow morning for Nome and today it was minus 20 burrrrrrrr.

Lance is resting in Unalakeet at mm 700. King, M.Seavey, and Neff are all racing and at mm 664. Burmeister is racing and at mm 655. Dallas Seavey is in 10th place, racing and at mm 633. Dallas said he is in full race mode now until it's over in Nome. Jen is in 57th and keeping her position.

Rookie Musher Rob Loveman (Bib #50) was withdrawn yesterday at Ophir. Rule 36 states a team may be withdrawn that is out of the competition and is no longer making a valid effort to compete. There are 63 Musher's left on the trail.

Sled dogs continue to amaze the Mushers and the Vets. They get stronger on longer runs and burn their food (metabolism) so efficient they seem to "flip a switch". They burn 12,000 calories a day from a fat laden diet without depleting their muscles' fat and sugar stores or growing tired. It's not clear just how they do it! Tests will be done to see if the hidden secret can be found.

I will discuss dog collar tags tomorrow. Thanks for using this site. Please share with a friend and stay tuned for a great race finish!!   

Lance is parked at Eagle Island, getting some rest for another run. Lance has the only top team with all 16 dogs. A few hours behind are Neff & M. Seavey - both have taken their 8 hour layovers. Schnuelle and Burmeister need to take their 8's so they aren't really in the #2 & #3 spots as listed on the leaderboard. King is less than an hour from M. Seavey. We have a very good race shaping up for the 2nd half.

Dallas Seavey is listed in 14th place, has taken his 8 hour layover, and should be in 9th place after all those in front of him take their 8's. Jen Seavey is in 57th. She said her 16 dog team is awesome and is having alot of fun.

The race is taking the southern route because of the odd year - 2009. 2010 will be the northern route. There has been only 3 Musher's that have scratched which is a very good ratio considering 67 started. Some years 15-25 Musher's donot finish out of a field of 85-96 that start.

The word Iditarod means " distant place and clear water " as in the Iditarod River and Iditarod the town. The race is named after this once prosperous settlement. The now ghost town of Iditarod, once had a population of over 10,000. This was the heart of the Iditarod mining district. 35 million in gold was mined from this area. Gold was $20 per ounce and now is over $1,000 per ounce - and still a very popular investment.

Rosanne and I are leaving for Nome early tomorrow so the next blog will be asap when I land in Alaska. Can't wait for the "spiritual" finish in Nome!

Future blogs will highlight the endurance of a sled dog, collar tags, microchipping and the most frequently asked question: How did the Keller's and Seavey's meet and why the Iditarod sponsorship?

Please check out the awesome photos from PK Media and stay tuned for some great facts and race action. Thanks for using our site.   

Lance Mackey is still in 1st place. He has stopped, maybe taking his 8 hour mandatory rest, in Anvik. He was the 1st Musher to reach the Yukon. He was treated to an 8 course meal plus $3,500 in cash for his feat. He fell asleep on his way to Anvik and when he woke up was off the trail by 3 miles. He said he lost about 1/2 hour - precious time. King, Schnuelle and Burmeister are in hot pursuit on their way to Anvik. M. Seavey is in 5th, possibly taking his 8 hours in Shageluk.

Dallas Seavey is in 10th place and currently resting in Shageluk. I'm going to look up the best finish for a 22 year old Musher. Dallas was the youngest Musher at age 18 to ever finish the Iditarod. Maybe he will break another record !!

Aerial photos of Wolves were taken near Shageluk. They were near the trails and moving in very deep snow. The Alaskan Wolves can weigh 200 lbs and are nothing to mess with.

Another aerial photo showed 4 moose very close to the trail so the Mushers need to proceed with caution. There have been other moose warnings in the race and Dallas is proof that you need to stay alert all the time.

On 3/10/09 Nancy Yoshida encountered a series of events, lost a dog named Nigel and scratched in the process. The good news is that Nigel was found today in good shape and returned to Nancy - A great ending for Nancy and Nigel.

I will post another interesting blog, including a history lesson on the ghost town of Iditarod, tomorrow. Lance and Mitch will be on the trail again.

Thanks for visiting our site and reading my blogs. Please stay tuned and tell your friends what a great race this is !! 

WOW! - no other word can describe Mackey who is gunning for a 3-peat. Mackey's speed between Ophir and Iditarod was 9.06 mph - the 2 others were 6 mph. He gained 5 hours on this leg, rested more, and has a 3.5 hour lead. He has the only top team with all 16 dogs. He is between Iditarod and Shageluk. I have observed, listened to and talked with Lance many times. Listen to the interview (see videos) I did with him, a week ago Thursday, and look into his eyes. You will see and hear a driven man.  

Burmeister, who has 12 dogs, and Schnuelle have also left Iditarod. Neff, King and M. Seavey are in Iditarod. Dallas Seavey, age 22, is currently in 13th place and mushing his heart out.

I believe the rest of the field is hoping that Lance, who is the lead trail breaker, wears out. This didn't happen the past 2 years.  

Did you know? According to Dallas his team is 100' long, from the back of the sled runners to the tip of the lead dogs nose. I measured a team on Willow Lake and it was roughly 85'+. Each team has different lengths between each of the 8 pairs of dogs and between the sled and the wheelhouse pair. Anyway, this is as long as a semi tractor-trailer rig. Dallas said that on close turns and switchbacks the Musher loses sight of the lead dogs.

Check back tomorrow for a history lesson on the ghost town of Iditarod. Thanks for visiting our site.