Ken Anderson

[jsk]

GPS now showing Ken in White Mountain...so it must be reallllly close right now.

E

Ramey's in...it's on the board.

[jsk]

JSK, PLEASE tell me Gwen wasn't one of those on the plane that crashed outside of White Mountain...apparently the 3 passengers are being flown to Nome for medical treatment. I'm praying she wasn't on that plane, I know she was trying to get a flight out of there....

E

Was the plane flying into or out of White Mountain?

I'm not sure, the article was sketchy about the details: "...the plane went down Tuesday about 16 miles outside of White Mountain...."

E

I don't know if Gwen is technically a volunteer or not...?

[Skip95]

Ken's in! 11 minutes behind Ramey. I think he'll be okay, no telling if Ramey hurt his team or not with that sprint. Time will tell.

[Skip95]

Ken's doing well. Great update from Gwen in their blog. Too long and too good to do excerpts. In summary, though, Gwen thinks that Ramey might be too fast for Ken to keep up, but then again, Ken does have a lot of speed and probably more power. The dogs are eating great and looked fantastic, so Ken's still in this.

Great race Lance and Jeff! Well done! Go Ken and Ramey!

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[Skip95]

JSK: Check out Gwen's blog, GREAT pic of Haakon getting a massage from Ken! Haakon's gonna finish! Too bad he dropped Kinga, but it sounds like she's okay and that it was the right decision.

E

[Skip95]

Ok, Ken's moving again. 15 mi out of Safety.

[Skip95]

Woah...Ken's speed is up to 10!!! He might be making his big final push!!!

Go KEN!!!

[Skip95]

Gwen's latest update (from Safety)

Ken out of Saftety in 4th place
Ramey, Ken, and Martin Buser just went through the very last 'checkpoint' of Saftey 15 minutes ago. Ramey was first, which is not too much of a surprise, but Martin was actually the second team in. Ken was immediately behind Martin, and then took a couple of minutes to drop a bag. I wonder if he had been carrying this dog in his bag and whether that might have slowed him down. In any case, Martin did not drop a dog but did something interestingly strategically. He waited until Ken left so he could follow him out and 'draft' off of him. That was probably a smart move, as dogs like to follow and Ken may have real trouble pulling away from Martin. Martin's dogs (or at least leaders) will be slightly rested relative to Ken's, and then he can at some point re-pass Ken coming into Nome. It puts Ken in a tough position of actually needing to run significantly faster than Martin to pull away, which is not easy at this stage in the race and if anything, Martin has shown he is the slightly faster team of the two.

In any case, it will be an interesting final stretch, and I am headed down to the finish line now to get things set up. Also, Hans seems to be trailing, but it is hard to know for sure. They do not have him posted as through Saftey yet.

Thanks to Glenn's Gun Shop and owner Glenn Blantz from Annville, PA for sponsoring Bartusch in the 2008 race. This is Glenn's Gunshop 4th year sponsoring our team, and he is also making his 4th trip up to watch the start this year. Glenn is travelling with his son David, and they had the chance to travel to McGrath after the start as well to watch the action. Thanks to Glenn for his long-time support.

[Skip95]

I think KEn just finished in 4th. Can't see the number, but it looked like his sled and the GPS showed him in Nome!!

[jsk]

JSK: Check out Gwen's blog, GREAT pic of Haakon getting a massage from Ken! Haakon's gonna finish! Too bad he dropped Kinga, but it sounds like she's okay and that it was the right decision.

E

I saw that! My young dude buddy Haakon has now finished his first Iditarod! I can't wait to read Ken's journal to find out the specifics of how they all did!