Update, Wednesday:
Matt Hall took over the lead out of Koyuk, at race mile 958, with Jessie Holmes close behind him.
Hall and his 10 dogs blasted through the checkpoint at 4:16 p.m. Wednesday, after stopping for just 7 minutes. Holmes and his 11-dog team gave chase soon after, racing out at 4:37 p.m. after a 5-hour break.
Paige Drobny and her 12 dogs pulled in at 4:22 p.m. and stopped to rest.
They have about 170 miles to the finish line.
Original story:
UNALAKLEET – Jessie Holmes and his 11-dog team pulled in first Tuesday night to the checkpoint here on the Bering Sea coast, with less than a quarter of the trail left in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
“Enjoying myself,” Holmes said during his quick stop. “May as well be caught up in the moment, not what's two days down the line.”
Holmes and his dogs had two teams on their tails: veterans Matt Hall and Paige Drobny. The three have been jockeying for first place and leapfrogging each other on the trail, all chasing their first Iditarod win.
Holmes has placed as high as third, twice, in his seven prior Iditarods. He was born in Alabama, moved to Alaska a couple decades ago and starred in the reality TV show “Life Below Zero.”
He didn’t stop for long in Unalakleet. He raced in at 7:03 p.m., greeted by a crowd of over 150 cheering fans, under clear skies and in 15-degree temperatures. Within 12 minutes, he fed his team a snack, grabbed a couple bottles of HEET — used to power mushers’ cookers — and a bail of straw to camp further up the trail. He also accepted a prize.
For his first-place arrival, he won an ounce of gold nuggets and two wood-carved loons from a local artist. Mushers can win awards and prizes for being the first into some checkpoints. In Galena, veteran Paige Drobny arrived first and received a five-course feast.
At 7:15 p.m., Holmes and his team raced out of Unalakleet.
Almost exactly an hour later, veteran Matt Hall and his 10 dogs arrived in Unalakleet at 8:18 p.m.
Hall didn’t stay long either. He was only at the checkpoint for seven minutes. He immediately ripped open his sled to show the checkpoint manager he had all the required gear: dog booties and coats, a sleeping bag, snowshoes, an axe, veterinarian notebook, harnesses, fuel and a cooker.
There’s just over 250 miles left on the trail.
“It's almost over, so I'm feeling great,” Hall said smiling.
Hall, of Two Rivers, was the runner-up last year, and it’s his seventh time racing the Iditarod. He’s placed among the top 10 three times.
Before he raced out of Unalakleet Tuesday, he got a pizza delivery. A local pizza shop, Peace on Earth, has a tradition where fans worldwide can order pizza for mushers to be delivered to the checkpoint. A fifth-grade class in Wisconsin sent a pizza to Hall.
“Oh boy, here in two minutes, I'm going to wolf that down,” Hall said while securing the pie.
About five hours after Hall, Drobny and her 13 dogs, all wearing hot pink dog booties, pulled into Unalakleet at 1:13 a.m. Wednesday.
Drobny, of Cantwell, is racing her 10th Iditarod. She has placed in the top 10 three times. Her best finish was last year, in 5th.
Drobny spent even less time at the checkpoint than Holmes and Hall.
She sent a dog home that she said had diarrhea. Mushers “drop” dogs at checkpoints for a variety of reasons, like illness, injury or simply not having the attitude to race.
She grabbed some supplies from bags mushers send to checkpoints ahead of the race. She didn’t take any straw, which mushers typically carry if they’re going to camp between checkpoints.
Within four minutes of arriving, she was back on the trail.
Shaktoolik is the next checkpoint and it’s 42 miles away.
As the front of the pack heads up the coast, the back is finishing the loop that dropped south from Kaltag.
Mushers are required to take an eight-hour break in White Mountain, the second to last checkpoint on the 1,128 mile trail to Nome.
Based on previous race results, a winner is expected Thursday night.
