MARCH 13, 2014

Its evening EST and it looks like 13 teams are still outside Nome. One will be coming in soon. Of those 13 nine of them are rookies. What a year for a rookie--with these weather conditions, not much snow, wind etc.
Some words about Jeff Kings scratch.  The only thing that was standing between 4 time champ Jeff King and a record tying 5th win was the brutality of Mother Nature. He was in horrendous winds, blowing snow in gusts that allowed visibility only in pulses, coupled with the icy trail not allowing any traction for the dogs. At one point, not far from Safety, he could see even his dogs were frightened so he hunkered down on the trail--waiting to see if the weather would improve (it didn't). Their coats were whipping in the wind and they were shivering. 2 dogs were so frantic they tried to climb into his parka so he piled them all together and put his sleeping bag over them. After some time he was shivering and freezing cold. The wind did not let up and he knew he wouldn't be able to get his sleeping bag back so he decided to walk to Safety for help. He had gone about 2 miles when he came upon a group of people, after he accepted a ride to Safety he knew that meant he was out of the race. You are not allowed to accept a ride during the race. He then got a snowmobile to go and get his dogs. Amen!

 Paige Drobny coming down the chute in Nome

A little sleep for a long trip. Nite!!

Aliy Zirkle dog at the dog lot in Nome. Now the snow comes!!

Some young kids from Nome welcoming the dogs

Kristi Berrington finishing the race--looking a bit frosted

Kristi Berrington (one of the racing twins) on the frozen Bering Sea just before getting into Nome.
Hey, we had a golf tournament right near here----ON THE BERING SEA!!!