McGrath S - N - Rohn - RP - FL - Skwentna

[klmobile]

Thanks Mira, I'm following on a tablet this year and it's a little sketchy compared to the grandpa box I normally use

[mira]

No problem! I am mostly following on my phone. It is not as good as a computer with a couple of screens as usual got in office

[Fool]

Aaron Burmeister is about to pass Dallas! It's going to be really interesting to see if Dallas chooses to stay put and give his team more rest or pulls the snow hook and gives chase.

[mira]

Ha has passed, but Dallas has rested for almost three hours which I guess was his plan anyway. I expect him to start running in the next 15-30 minutes

[Fool]

Next up are Brent Sass and Ryan Redington, both running less than an hour behind Burmeister.

Dallas is presumably going to run straight through to Rainy Pass after this rest, a distance of roughly 56 miles from where he is currently camped. For Aaron Burmeister and Brent Sass, both of who camped on the trail around 10 miles past Nikolai, the path forward is a little more uncertain. Either they keep on slingshotting with Dallas in their run rest cyles, breaking up the trail to Skwenta into roughly three equal runs from Nikolai, or one or both puts in a monster run in the push to Skwenta that cuts some of that rest from their schedule. At this point, that seems unlikely, but you never know.

If those top three teams follow similar plans of three runs and two rests, the only way Burmeister and Sass can make up ground on Dallas is by cutting one or both of their next two rests shorter than Dallas did, or having teams that are fast enough to make up some time on the trail.

I would assume Ryan Redington follows a similar game plan to Dallas at this point, meaning that he’s unlikely to make up much ground at this stage in the race.

It’s easy to look at the trackers and will the teams to make the risky decisions that might let them cut into the lead, but it’s a far different thing to be the one on the ground making those choices. At this stage in the Iditarod, it is far more likely for teams to choose to guard their current position rather than risk not getting their team to the finish with a risky move. And with the Alaska Range looming large (with the Farewell Burn, Dalzell Gorge, and some serious mountain climbing), teams are going to be working plenty hard over the next stages of the race.

About an hour behind the Redington/Sass duo is Wade Marrs, who has quietly put himself within reach of the leaders by running a solid, conservative race that shows improved patience over previous years. And rounding out the lead group are Joar Leifseth Ulsom (who put in a massive 12-hour run from McGrath to put himself in contention once again), Richie Diehl, and Mille Porsild.

These next couple of hours are going to be prime time tracker viewing, to see what everyone ends up doing...

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[tanglefoot]

I wonder if dallas has rested or put his cooker over his tracker and gone full ghost mode lol

Remember they have their phones this year!

[Fool]

I wonder if dallas has rested or put his cooker over his tracker and gone full ghost mode lol

Remember they have their phones this year!

Ha ha--I had that thought too! What if he just "forgot" to turn his tracker back on?

[tanglefoot]

Dallas has pulled hook!

[Another UK Fan]

This race is always exciting - and now it is riveting. I should go to sleep, but can't keep away from the tracker

[Another UK Fan]

Okay . . . what is happening now? GPS showing Dallas resting again.