Cool Dreams Racing Team - Bill Borden

Brenda's 2003 Daily Iditarod Coverage

Countdown to Iditarod 2003 Restart — Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

February

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March 6, 2003

Sorlie makes the Halfway Point first and takes a 24-hour rest.

The Norwegian musher who was 2002 Iditarod Rookie of the Year, Robert Sorlie, reached Eagle Island on the Yukon River at 3:29 a.m. Friday, maintaining his lead. He won $3,000 in gold nuggets for reaching the halfway point first. His nearest competitors are Jeff King, Martin Buser, Johnny Baker, and Rick Swenson. Sorlie's style reminds me of what Swingley has done in the past, get out in front and stay there. One of Sorlie's contacts says that is indeed part of the strategy so that the Norwegian dogs will not pick up any virus or infections from other teams as these dogs have not been in Alaska long enough to acclimate and build up resistance to common bugs here. Ramy Brooks had a small glitch when he was told in Ruby that drop bag two of three was lost. That was where Ramy's important items and best meat would've been. Mushers can use meat from other mushers' bags who have scratched but by doing so, run the risk of upsetting their dogs stomachs by introducing new rations during race conditions. The look on Ramy's face definitely showed dismay while he decided how to handle the situation.

If you check the standings, several mushers have scratched already, Jason Barron of Montana being the latest. Jason had dropped several of his good leaders and felt that he did not have enough good lead-power to continue on. Also scratched from the race were Lance Barve who had to drop some of his leaders and scratched in Manley; Karen Land had the same upsetting situation with leaders and dropped out in Tanana; Blake Matray scratched in Tanana due to illness in his team; Bob HIckel had dropped seven dogs and felt that he did not have enough to go the rest of the way with the remaining team; Peter Bartlett said his dogs were not eating properly and, sadly, it was in their best interest to give it up in Tanana.

Lynda Plettner had some trouble on the trail caused by those crazy souls who are walking, yes WALKING to Nome, the IditaSport group. They are walking on the same trail where the teams are mushing but human feet will punch through the snow crust where dogs and sleds will not. She was not happy to have to drop a favorite dog whose wrist was sprained by stepping into a footprint hole. According to Joe Runyan, Lynda was still in high spirits, upbeat and the team was eating well and looking good. Rick Swenson was one musher who thought about the soft snow conditions and had specially purchased extra wide plastic, a little over two inches wide, to replace the narrow plastic that is standard on modern sleds. The wide plastic is much better in soft snow because it gives the sled some lift. Rick, being a trapper, knows that wide runners are better for a load in soft snow. Little things like this can be an advantage when conditions are challenging.

Rookies are having an different race this year than most and rookie Randy Chappell of Texas is hanging near the top, maybe a candidate for Rookie of the Year. Most of the complaints I have heard on the trail so far were due to snow conditions being "punchy," attributable to the weird winter Alaska has had. The next challenge of the trail will be the passing of teams on the segment of trail between Grayling and Kaltag where teams will travel down to Shageluk and Anvik meeting teams heading back up to Kaltag the second time. With this loop, the total distance of the trail will be about 100 miles longer than the traditional Southern Iditarod loop. However, the situation will be more normal when teams then go towards Unalakleet on the coast. Unalakleet is a town of about 700 and typically has fierce winds blowing off the Bering Sea. This race may be anything but normal. We will have to wait and see.

Top Headlines from the Anchorage Daily News



		February 28, 2003 Start Position — Musher — Hometown 1 — Howard and Julie Farley — honorary 2 — John Baker — Kotzebue 3 — Ted English — Willow 4 — Cali King — Denali Park 5 — Perry Solomonson — Whittier 6 — Jason Barron — Lincoln, Mont. 7 — Tyrell Seavey — Seward 8 — Jessie Royer — Fairbanks 9 — Ed Iten — Kotzebue 10 — Dexter Kancer — Nenana 11 — Blake Matray — Two Rivers 12 — Ben Stamm — Argyle, Wis. 13 — Jim Lanier — Chugiak 14 — Paul Gebhardt — Kasilof 15 — Martin Buser — Big Lake 16 — Karen Land — Sand Coulee, Mont. 17 — Cim Smyth — Big Lake 18 — Jeff King — Denali Park 19 — Vern Halter — Willow 20 — Lance Barve — Willow 21 — Frank Sihler — Wasilla 22 — Gerald Riley — Nenana 23 — Robert Sorlie — Hurdal, Norway 24 — Cindy Gallea — Seely Lake, Mont. 25 — Aaron Burmeister — Nome 26 — Lynda Plettner — Houston 27 — Charlie Boulding — Manley 28 — Ray Redington Jr. — Two Rivers 29 — Todd Capistrant — Emerald, Wis. 30 — DeeDee Jonrowe — Willow 31 — Jack Berry — Salcha 32 — Debbie Moderow — Anchorage 33 — Ramey Smyth — Big Lake 34 — Carla Kelly — Anchorage 35 — G.B. Jones — Wasilla 36 — Ken Anderson — Fairbanks 37 — Bruce Lee — Denali Park 38 — Karen Ramstead — Perryvale, Alberta 39 — Randy Chappel — Arlington, Texas 40 — Peter Bartlett — Willow 41 — Linwood Fiedler — Willow 42 — Ramy Brooks — Healy 43 — Mitch Seavey — Seward 44 — Sonny Lindner — Fairbanks 45 — Aliy Zirkle — Two Rivers 46 — Melanie Gould — Talkeetna 47 — Rick Swenson — Two Rivers 48 — Tim Osmar — Ninilchik 49 — Gerald Sousa — Talkeetna 50 — Ellen Halverson — Wasilla 51 — Mike Williams — Akiak 52 — Bill Pinkham — Glenwood Springs, Colo. 53 — Palmer Sagoonick — Shaktoolik 54 — Adam Scott Gibler — Chugiak 55 — Dean Osmar — Clam Gulch 56 — Jon Little — Kasilof 57 — Jim Gallea — Sterling 58 — Bob Hickel — Anchorage 59 — Keith Aili — Ray, Minn. 60 — Jessica Hendricks — Copper Center 61 — Russell Bybee — Willow 62 — Kelly LaMarre — Geneva, Ill. 63 — Lachlan Clarke — Colorado Springs, Colo. 64 — Robert Bundtzen — Anchorage 65 — Clint Warnke — Bonnie Lake, Wash