Winners and winding down

I meant to write some of this yesterday but just did not have my thoughts in order or some emotions totally under control. Yes, young Seavey won. I have to say he has very fast dogs and he drove them well. Any small less-than-noble things he did I attribute mostly to youth and an overzealous urge to make his mark. His dad finished second, Burmeister third, Jessie Royer fourth--her personal best so far with which she was very happy and Aliy fifth, smiling as always and greeting fans but tired and a bit emotional at the finish.

Now the twentieth racer and third woman competitor is in, Michelle Phillips. She was not totally pleased with her run but praised her dogs and at least was in the money, if barely. Others of the feminine contingent are still en route. Paige Drobney has left White Mountain and the Berington sisters are there now. Deedee Jonrowe is coming from Elim toward White Mountain. At least some of them will be in Nome this evening. I'm trying to catch them all on the live cam which runs until the last person is in.

Martin Buser is just about to drive up Nome's front street, about in twenty second or third rank. The first time he has been out of the top twenty in almost forever! So he spoke the truth earlier in the race.

From my admittedly experience-challenged armchair, I think the 43rd Iditarod will go down as a watershed time. The different trail provided some new challenges and the weather has thrown some doozies at the racers but this is nothing new. What is new is first, the old guard is starting to fall back. Well, the second wave of the old guard. The first of course are now long gone or moved to the senior statesman levels watching sons and grandsons carry on, And some granddaughters too.

But to hear what Buser said earlier and to see Jeff King come in yesterday in seventh place, happy and jovial though way out of the real winner's circle made a huge statement. Both are four time winners; I think it came to them that if either of them took a fifth race, they would be tied with Rick Swenson, now far out of the picture and the only five time winner. Then they'd have to try for six... When would it end? Maybe one more trophy on the mantle was not worth forcing the team and their aging bodies that hard. King has only daughters, none of whom seem to be going into mushing, at least for now. One of Buser's two sons is; he is racing this year though well back in the pack. However when I visited Happy Trails Kennel last August young Rohn (named for an Ididtarod checkpoint!) is developing his own team and said to start watching him in 2016. Time will tell.

Dallas Seavey is of course carrying the Seavey clan banner. He may break through and win five, six or more times although I would not count on it. I see a number of promising young mushers, both men and women, who are moving up through the ranks and so far showing a strong will and dedication. Again, time will tell.

Others who will be stepping aside, almost certainly, include Deedee Jonrowe. She's the woman with the most finishes ever (over 30) and several Iditarod 2nds although she never won the top place. And Lance Mackey, who has four Idiatarod wins and two Yukon Quest firsts as well, winning both races in one year two times! That's an amazing record but health has taken its toll and his comeback is about over. Whether his kid brother, who has never been a big musher but is starting now can carry on or not is unknown. I'm not sure if either of them have kids coming  into the field; they are both in their forties so kids would be too young to race as adults yet.  I do not expect to see Mitch Seavey compete really hard many more times. He is in his mid fifties and he looked tired yesterday although happy, sharing the winner's circle with his son. So we watch a changing of the guard here. Also old timer Jim Lanier scratched at Unalakleet; he is seventy one and the threat of some bad weather up the coast probably tipped the balance for  him.

In another aspect, there was new excitement with new places being visited this time as check points including Huslia, home of the late, great sprint racer and dog man, George Atla who passed away late last year. Folks are already talking of other variations in a weather-shifted trail should the snowless conditions persist. Looking at the long term meteorological  predictions, these variations tending to be cyclic anyway, that is probably likely. I predict we'll see more Fairbanks starts and a gradual shift northward of the mushing communities centered around Anchorage to Wasilla and Willow. I've been wrong before but that's my oracle for now!

More on SP Kennels and other women racing in a later post to follow shortly. Also some borrowed photos!