Jon Little predicts finish time....

[fladogfan]

JeannieB,
Check out the availability of a computer at/near the lunch party. think that's happened before hasn't it
Take lap top, camouflage on lap under table top. If anyone asks why you have your head down so much, tell them you're so sad sister leaving
Or, is it too late to change the party to a dinner party?
Or, car trouble, you'll be late, because...
Doesn't the family know the Iditarod is on what are they thinking

[tanglefoot]

if she was any kind of sister shed postpone the leaving do...sure your folks would be only to pleased to see her stay a bit longer hahaha

[JeanieB]

Thanks for the ideas, guys. This is the SAME Sister I 'dissed ' last year to watch the start in her computer room while the family visited! She has been so supportive of me going this year, but we really didn't figure on the end being Wed. afternoon! It's at my cousin's house, so I will play the Iditiot again.

Mush on,
JeanieB

[Moose]

[quote="fladogfan"]East coast USA time would be 8AM to 10AM. If so, I WILL BE LATE TO WORK! and my lady can like it or not quote]

Wow, we sure like that schedule a lot better; don't we FDF and other East Coasters! But how will we know which time guesstimate would be closer?

And, dear JeanieB, you ARE an Iditiot. We ALL are!

[JeanieB]

Woooweee, doggies! If it's between 8 and 10 am I am in GOOD shape! I will be here with bells on!

Pardon my 'still in Alaska' brain, but what is the best Nome cam addy?

JeanieB

[emwcee]

That means 7 to 9 a.m. my time, which means I'm doing "taxi duty" with my kids AND maybe making some (hopefully quick) phone calls for my job (which I have woefully shirked lately).

Marcia

[crazeehorse]

This is a pretty good blog.

http://iditablog.com/

Leaving Elim early this morning, Lance Mackey made what could be one of the best strategic decisions of this incredibly close Iditarod. Mackey arrived into Elim running just a little bit slower than Jeff King who arrived within 3 minutes of the reigning champion. Mackey did what he has done at most checkpoints along the cost, he cut his rest time a little short and forced King to consider doing the same. Jeff King has said he won’t fall into that cycle of shorter rests, which ultimately effect the performance of his team, he contends that his longer rests are what have allowed him to continuously run faster times than Mackey was showing. The run from Elim to White Mountain this morning was different, this time King wasn’t able to catch up with Mackey and the hour that had elapsed between when Mackey left Elim, and when King left Elim remained an hour as the two mushers arrived into White Mountain, Mackey at 8:53am, and King at 9:50am.

It won’t be until almost 5pm that Mackey will be able to leave White Mountain, and almost 6 when King can leave, from there the two will be sprinting to the finish line in Nome almost 80 miles away.. Look for a winner to arrive somewhere between 2 and 5am Alaska time.

We’ll be back in a few hours to look at the incredible race for third place….. it might even be closer than the race for first.

From ADN - The twenty closest Iditarod Finishes ever:

*(No. 1) 1978: ***** Mackey beat Rick Swenson by 1 second.
*(No. 2)1982: Rick Swenson beat Susan Butcher by 4 minutes.
*(No. 3) 1977: Rick Swenson beat Jerry Riley by 5 minutes.
*(No. 4) 1975: Emmitt Peters beat Jerry Riley by 27 minutes.
*(No. 5) 1993: Jeff King beat DeeDee Jonrowe by 33 minutes.
*(No. 6) 2005: Robert Sorlie beat Ed Iten by 34 minutes.
*(No. 7) 1979: Rick Swenson beat Emmitt Peters by 41 minutes.
*(No. 8) 1981: Rick Swenson beat Sonny Lindner by 48 minutes.
*(No. 9) 1986: Susan Butcher beat Joe Garnie by 55 minutes.
*(No. 10) 1989: Joe Runyan beat Susan Butcher by 1 hour, 5 minutes.
*(No. 11) 1984: Dean Osmar beat Susan Butcher by 1 hour, 34 minutes.
*(No. 12) 1983: Rick Mackey beat Eep Anderson by 1 hour, 40 minutes.
*(No. 13) 2003: Robert Sorlie beat Ramy Brooks by 1 hour, 49 minutes.
*(No. 14) 2002: Martin Buser beat Ramy Brooks by 2 hours, 3 minutes.
*(No. 15) 2007: Lance Mackey beat Paul Gebhardt by 2 hours, 19 minutes.
*(No. 16) 2004: Mitch Seavey beat Jeff King by 2 hours, 21 minutes.
*(No. 17) 1985: Libby Riddles beat Duane Halverson by 2 hours, 26 minutes.
*(No. 18) 1990: Susan Butcher beat Joe Runyan by 2 hours, 28 minutes.
*(No. 19) 1996: Jeff King beat Doug Swingley by 2 hours, 49 minutes.
*(No. 20) 1994: Martin Buser beat Rick Mackey by 2 hours, 50 minutes.

[Johncn]

Hello,

Just had Kevin Keeler, BLM Iditarod National Historical Trail manager and member of this forum, on the IditaProject broadcast today.

He mentioned that the 77 mile frequently used in calculating finishing times, and which is on the ITC's race stats is inaccurate. It was ACTUALLY 70 miles when they surveyed the route for the tripod trail markers.

Why? Many squiggles on old maps were ironed out when doing the routes, but a major contributing factor is that the original route went around Cape Nome, and the race trail goes over a headland.

As the users of this forum know so well, that 6 or 7 mile difference could result in an error of an hour

He also shared some shots of this area you may enjoy:

The Trail tripod looking toward Cape Nome:



The segment in question with both tripod markers, and the "stakes" most parts of the race use:



And, finally, a shot Kevin took of Lance Mackey poling up the Cape Nome hill in 2005:



And, finally, what Jeff may see if he is chasing Lance up the hill on the way into Nome!



Going to be a great finish. Thanks, Kevin.

Regards,

Johncn

[fladogfan]

Hey Moose,
So, do we go to bed now and get up at ?? midnight, 3am, 6am or just stay up all night? I am due at the house with mega pets, cats tomorrow, shaving matts and biting cats are not a good idea on too little sleep.

How do we find out latest est.?
worryworryworry

[Heidi]

Thanks John! And thanks for the pics too. Looks like an all-nighter for me.