Woops! Looks like I clicked "preview" and not "save"; previous entry was written last night but didn't get posted until this morning. Meanwhile, things have developed dramatically. Jeff King and Mitch Seavey have made it to Telephone Creek. When are they resting their dogs? When are they sleeping? Six mushers haven't even made it to Candle, the turnaround point, yet! And Lance Mackey has dropped to third place. Sonny Lindner has dropped to seventh.
Given the way this has developed, it is difficult to tell whether Lindner, thought to be a strong contender for this race, has done a smart thing by giving his team a good rest, or is just burning out. He was last reported in Candle, five hours behind second-place runner Mitch Seavey.
Can King possibly keep this pace to the finish? If so, the 1910 trail record is going to be blown sky-high. Mackey, at least, can't be counted out of the running yet; he may have rested his dogs just enough to pass Jeff King in the latter phase of this crazy race.
Remember, the winner gets one hundred grand; the runner-up gets nothing. It's a winner-take-all game. I think we can probably expect some excitement right through to the end, given the way King has chosen to set such a blistering pace. His accumulated runtime at Telephone Creek is 42 hours 33 minutes.
Posted by ditkoofseppala at March 28, 2008 07:29 AM