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Checking in on the 2023 Iditarod ... day four ... with everyone having done their "24s" and off and running. Well everyone among the leaders but Wade Mars. Here's the current situation as shown by the Flow Tracker:
Brent Sass is off and running in the lead, followed by Jesse Holmes. They are one-two on the trail, and also in the race. The next three in a close tie are Richie Diehl, Peter Kaiser, and Ryan Reddington. And the next group is Kelly Maixner, Eddie Burke, Matthew Failor, and Nic Petit. Note that Nic did not come out of taking an "early 24" at Nikolai as well as I thought he would. Wade Mars is still finishing his 24 in Iditarod, and everyone else is now out of it (I think!) Sadly this includes Mille Porsild who is running well, and is the top woman-led team.
Next bit of strategy is when to run and rest along the Yukon. It's "warm", and the trail conditions are slushy and slow, so running at night would seem fast. Every team needs to rest for 8 hours in a Yukon checkpoint, it may be that doing this early pays off, if the conditions get colder and faster. Stay tuned!
Some pics:
I think this guy's attitude speaks for many of us :)
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