Tibby's Blog: March 2023

Monday, March 20, 2023

DAY #14 PHOTO'S

Still trying to do video's. Next year.........

JASON MACKEY's RED LANTERN AWARD

At the Banquet. You can even breast feed your baby there. Front and center!!!

BRIDGETT WATKINS

JASON MACKEY--

The MUSHERS thank you for your interest.

RED LANTERN

RYANS WINNING DOGS

You don't have to dress up for the banquet!!!!

RYAN REDINGTON< THE WINNER basking in his victory!!

DAY #14 IDITAROD MARCH 19, 2023 NOME BANQUET

DAY #14 MARCH 19 2023 NOME BANQUET

The MAYOR of NOME is the Master of Ceremonies at the Mushers Banquet. I always remember the Mayor RICHARD BENEVILLE, the exuberant and colorful Mayor died at 75. He had been Mayor since 2015-2020. He was always there at the burled arch when the mushers came in. Some years handing out green headbands as it always is around St. Patrick's Day. He was a former dancer and former Broadway performer. He was a class act to follow. Since 2020 JOHN HANDELAND has been MAYOR of NOME. He presided at the banquet, last night. He certainly isn't like Mr. BENEVILLE--then who could be!!At the beginning of the dinner all sang the National Anthem, three Girl Scouts sang God Bless America in Yu pik, one of the native Alaskan dialects and then sang that in English. Very patriotic way to begin.

After their dinner, which I never saw a picture of or did anyone explain what was on the menu. So????Have to say everyone looked full and happy.

Then the awards began. I did mention, as the mushers came into the checkpoints, what award they received. Those awards were then brought to Nome and presented at the Banquet.

EDDIE BURKE was chosen as the Rookie of the Year. He was THRILLED!! He is very charming when he is interviewed and he has So many fans.

29 mushers finished and 4 had to scratch.

FYI The BERINGTON twins have participated in the IDITAROD for many years. They usually run together and seem quite inseparable. They finished only 16 SECONDS apart. Its a twin thing!!

RYAN REDINGTON the WINNER of the race also won most of the awards. The one I liked, besides all the gold nuggets, was the 25 pounds of salmon. Whew!! Thats a lot of salmon. RYAN was the Oscar winner of the IDITAROD for sure!!He was also praised and won a 1st place trophy for his win.

MATT FAILOR came in 30th in 2022 and 8th 2023. He won the award for MOST IMPROVED.

HUNTER KEEFE, a rookie, won the SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD. This is voted on by the mushers. HUNTER had helped fellow mushers when needed. He was a favorite.

Even RYANS dogs, who came to the Banquet, GHOST and SVEN won Awards as they should!!

JASON MACKEY won the MOST INSPIRATIONAL AWARD. Also he did have one of his brother LANCES' dogs RED, with him.

GRAYLING was chosen as the best checkpoint. That surprised me as I heard many mushers say they loved SHAKTOOLIK. I think they all were special in their own way.

BRIDGETT WATKINS won the HERBIE HAYOPUK AWARD. An award chosen by the checkpoint checkers themselves. She won $1,049, a beautiful ivory bracelet , more ivory jewelry and a beautiful sled dog ivory carving. I particularly LOVED that one.

JASON MACKEY won the RED LANTERN AWARD, for the courage to continue on and finish even though you are last. JASON said he put out the flame for his Brother.

Till next year. Let's hope for snow, a few more mushers, healthy and happy dogs, all those wonderful volunteers and the hard working people who organize and carry out the details. Let's hope for a GREAT 2024 RACE. TILL NEXT YEAR.

Thank you for reading my blog. It encourages me to continue.

Friday, March 17, 2023

DAY #12 PHOTO's

DAY #12 PHOTO'S

JASON MACKEY into NOME

JASON receiving the RED LANTERN

These fat tire bikes are ridden on the IDITAROD trail in their own race.

GERHARDT THIART #22 and facing us is BRIDGETT WATKINS

BRIDGETT coming into NOME-see how GERHARDT moved his sled so BRIDGETT could come in beside him.

Bad photo but..#19 BRIDGETT and #22 GERHARDT

#19 and #22 together

MILLE PORSILD came in the top 10 but I never had a photo of her before. She is also a favorite.

THIS IS THE STORY OF 2 HISTORIC IDITAROD FAMILIES--THE REDINGTON'S AND THE MACKEY'S. MEMORABLE!!!!

DAY#12 IDITAROD MARCH 17, 2023 NOME

DAY#12 MARCH 17, 2023

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY. HOPE YOU WERE ABLE TO CELEBRATE.

BAILEY VITELLO (r) came under the burled arch in 11 days 16 hours 49 min 57 sec. BAILEY and his DAD GREGG(r) (who scratched) are from New Hampshire. His was near the end of the pack and was slowed down for moose he encountered. He did say this was a wonderful experience. One of his favorite checkpoints was spending his 24 hr. layover in SHATOOLIK. He said they were wonderful people, so welcoming.

JOANNA JAGOW came in 27th. She is an ER Nurse in FAIRBANKS. She grew up working with the family on the trapline. She also said SHAKTOOLIK was one of her favorite checkpoints. She spent her 24 hour layover there and also had to wait out the bad wind storm. The people there advised her to stay and she figured they knew this area better than she did so she waited it out.

GERHARDT THIART: is from SOUTH AFRICA. Early in his life he moved to MICHIGAN and became interested in dog sled racing. His eyes were set on the BIG RACE, the IDITAROD!! In MICHIGAN he studied and received 2 more degrees, met his wife who is a VETERINARIAN ASS. She was in NOME to greet him. In 2022 he worked with MITCH SEAVEY and raced this year with his dogs. He said from SAFETY to NOME there was no wind (unusual) and it was a delightful trip in. He and BRIDGETTWATKINS were two of those stranded last year in the horrendous storm by WHITE MOUNTAIN. They both sustained injuries. Their dogs did not. They really bonded at this time and travelled, some of the time, together. They again were in WHITE MOUNTAIN together. They must have discussed this before hand and they both came under the arch "almost" together. GERHARDT came in and pulled his sled to one side, and waited for BRIDGETT to come in. It was a memorable reunion!!

BRIDGETT WATKINS is an ER NURSE and is working for her Masters Degree. She is from ARKANSAS. She came in 12 days 0hours 8 min 48 sec. (it was around noon). She was carrying CURTIS' ashes. CURTIS was a trooper who was killed last year by a muskox. BRIDGETT told CURTIS' wife TAMMY she was bringing CURTIS home. CURTIS had encouraged her in so many ways and they were such good friends. Many of the troopers were in NOME to show how much they respected him. BRIDGETT said this trip was a long time in coming BUT "dreams can come true if you work hard enough at it". The most exiting part of the trip for her was in the Alaska Range. The full moon gave enough light to mark the trail and illuminated the mountains. She said it was breathtaking. The only trouble she had was her dogs did not want to leave any of the checkpoints. It took a lot of patience and time to get them back on the trail. *** Did any of them remember what happened last year??? We'll never know!! ALIY ZIRKLE (her step mother) and ALAN MOORE (her Father) were in NOME as well to welcome BRIDGETT. Just a FYI: BRIDGETT is one who wears a helmet. It would be good if that was a requirement for all mushers.

The last musher under the burled arch in NOME: JASON MACKEY, Brother of LANCE and son of DICK MACKEY -, DICK one of the organizers of the first IDITAROD and musher and LANCE a 5 time winner of the IDITAROD and a crowd favorite, died last year of Cancer. JASON brought Lances' and his Mom's ashes to WHITE MOUNTAIN. JASON came in 12 days 2hours3min 37sec. #20 came in NOME in the sunshine with crowds of people lining the streets to greet him. There were also a lot of prior mushers there as well. He met JED STEPHENSEN in WHITE MOUNTAIN and JED was asked how it was mushing near JASON, he said --"there's nothing tougher than a MACKEY"!!JASON had only 5 dogs when he arrived in NOME. You have to have at least 5 to finish the race. He said back in FINGER LAKE some of the dogs had diarrhea and had to send some home. Finally came down to just 5 dogs.He had a tough time when he was on his way to SHAKTOOLIK. He couldn't see ANYTHING and it was scary. He was so happy to get to the checkpoint.His dogs brought him in!! WADE MARRS and HUNTER KEEFE went out to SAFETY to cheer him on. 550 people greeted him in NOME!!JASON was the winner of the RED LANTERN. It really is a prestegious award. Even though you may know you're last you stay and courageously move on and FINISH!!TILL THE BITTER END!! The last person in blows out the RED LANTERN that was lite when the race began.

FYI: NOME is 102 miles south of the ARTIC CIRCLE.

FYI: It was snowing in ANCHORAGE when the race in NOME ended today.

The only "thing" left is the Banquet on Sunday. They will broadcast this and hope we get reception. I'll check it out and see if I can pass anything on to you. Till Sunday.

Photo's on the next page.

Thursday, March 16, 2023

DAY #11 PHOTO'S

DEKE NAAKTGEBOREN on Front St. Loved the snow at his back.

NIC PETIT

RAMEY SMYTH

WADE MARRS with his family in NOME

HUNTER KEEFE--coming down Front St--check out those white boots I spoke about in my Blog.

HUNTER KEEFE encouraged by his daughter.NUGGET INN in background where I stayed in NOME, right at the finish line.

DAY #11. IDITAROD THURS. MARCH 16,2023 ELIM/WHITE MOUNTAIN/SAFETY/NOME

DAY #11 THURS. MARCH 16, 2023 ELIM/WHITE MOUNTAIN/SAFETY/NOME

Most of the day spent in NOME with 14 mushers now there - end of the trail!!!

Weather: ELIM : 7 during the day -2 at night. fair

WHITE MOUNTAIN : 13 during the day 7 at night fair

SAFETY : 9 during the day -2 at night. sunny

At 10 pm EST there are 3 in ELIM, 3 in WHITE MOUNTAIN, 1 in SAFETY.

It's still amazing that no one is way far behind, which is usual. They seem to almost be traveling together.

MILLE PORSILD came in 9th

WADE MARRS came in 10th place.

HUNTER KEEFE came in 11th place. Check his white boots in one of my photo's. Hank and I went to the Army & Navy Store in Anchorage and asked what the warmest boot was. They said, by far, these white boots that the mushers use. They are heavy (too heavy for a suitcase, SO you have to wear them HOME!!)They truly are warm but wow so heavy. You will see many mushers with them. Too warm this year so we can see them only near the end when it got colder.

RAMEY SMYTH is a veteran but I do have to say, my least favorite person. He always made me feel I wasn't important enough to talk to. He seemed abrupt and always moving AWAY!!

NIC PETIT came under the arch in 17th place. 10 days 10 hours 9 min. NIC was born in France and raised in New Mexico. He now lives in MARTIN BUSERS' town of BIG LAKE, ALASKA. He started the IDITAROD 12 times and finished 9. He came back to IDITAROD driving MARTIN BUSERS' dogs.

RILEY DYCHE came in 18th. 10 days 14 hours 11 minutes. He was one caught last year in the BLOW HOLE STORM. He took refuge in the Nome Kennel Club Safety Cabin for MANY MANY HOURS!! Yet, he did finish the race. He said Mother Nature was much kinder this year with better weather. He enjoyed going into the villages and finding such great people and always excited to see everyone.

We'll wait to see if the 7 left will be in NOME by tomorrow.

Photo's on the next page.

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

DAY #10 PHOTO'S

PETE KAISER NOME 2nd PLACE

PETE KAISER

Good Photo of RYAN coming down FRONT ST. into NOME

Wanted you to see all the people in NOME out to greet RYAN--and all the other mushers

Working on the video's. They are of many of the mushers coming into NOME and speaking with GREG HEISTER and BRUCE LEE. Also of the crowd of well wishers.

DAY#10 IDITAROD WED. MARCH 15, 2023 SHAKTOOLIK/KOYUK/ELIM/WHITE MOUNTAIN/SAFETY/NOME

DAY#10 WED. MARCH 15, 2023 SHAKTOOLIK/KOYUK/ELIM/WHITE MOUNTAIN/SAFETY/NOME

I sometimes get photo's and info a day late due to the difficulty of telecommunications in some of these remote areas.

ERIC KELLY, who was at the back of the pack, did scratch in SHAKTOOLIK with 10 healthy dogs.There is no further info.

I do have some video footage of RYAN REDINGTON coming 1st into NOME and an interview. Lets hope I can get that up and running.I also have some pictures of #2 PETE KAISER and #3 Richie Diehl, #4MATT HALL and #5 KELLY MAIXNER.

FYI: BRUCE LEE thought RICHIE DIEHL had the prettiest dog team. He may have finished higher up but decided to take more rests, for his dogs, and come into NOME looking good and feeling good, dogs and RICHIE. He was pleased with his trip.

RYAN, RICHIE and PETE are all natives of ALASKA and from some of the villages they passed through.

2 days before the banquet in ANCHORAGE ,RYAN REDINGTON went to an Asian Restaurant. They always give you a fortune cookie (Ryan was thinking it was just a cookie) so he was eating the "cookie" when he started to choke on something THE FORTUNE paper!!!! The fortune read "next week #5 will be very lucky for you". What was his bib number - right--#5 and he WON!! Strange but true>>>

They spoke about NO AURORA seen on these 8 day but it was a full clear beautiful moon. They did not run into any big storms except at WHITE MOUNTAIN where a wind storm came through and the mushers were advised to wait the storm out. They all did do that.

The mushers decision in KOYUK was, as they say in baseball, the turning point of the game!!!RYAN was going to rest a short time there but decided to go on. PETE decided to rest a short time. They were both ok with their decisions. We will never know if PETE would have been the winner and RYAN would have been second, if the tables were turned.

JESSIE ROYER, my favorite, had not been to NOME in two years. She took last year off and a few of her dogs were veterans and retired. She had a few young dogs and some more inexperienced. She said that would help prepare them for next year. They asked what she listened to on her headphones during the trip. She said some music but a few good--murder mystery audio books.

CHRIS TURNER said he had been off for 8 years and was tempted to come back when MITCH SEAVEY offered him a team. He was one that waited out the wind storm last night.

As of 10:30 EST there are 3 in ELIM, 5 in WHITE MOUNTAIN, 1 in SAFETY and 14 in NOME. The "others" are on the run.

I have to say, every other year the back of the pack was VERY far behind the top 5-10 winners. This year they are very close together and I believe will be finished by the weekend, perhaps for St. Patricks Day!!

Photo's on the next page.

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

DAY #9 PHOTO'S

DAY #9 PHOTO'S. will show you photo's of Richie Diehl and Matt Hall tomorrow.

You can see those windchargers in UNALAKLEET with a musher passing by.

This is the pizza place and where Hank and I stayed, in UNALAKLEET. Hasn't changed!!

Mushers extra sleds with the turbines in the background in UNALAKLEET.

vet checking a dog

wow this certainly is a beautiful handmade parka

PETE KAISER coming in 2nd

PETE'S trip down FRONT ST in NOME

PETE KAISER coming under the burled arch in NOME

photographer starting early. The camera is bigger than she is.

DAY #9 IDITAROD MARCH 14, 2023. KOYUK/ELIM/WHITE MOUNTAIN/SAFETY/NOME

DAY #9 MARCH 14, 2023 KOYUK/ELIM/WHITE MOUNTAIN/NOME

Today's the day to crown a winner under the burled arch in NOME.

weather today: KOYUK--8 during the day -5 at night cloudy

ELIM - 7 during the day -6 at night. fair with wind

WHITE MT. - 6 during the day -6 at night fair with wind

SAFETY - 8 during the day -3 at night sunny

NOME - 9 during the day -5 at night fair to sunny

Whenever a team is 15 minutes away from NOME, the siren sounds so everyone can prepare and get to the arch to watch the teams come down front street and under the arch.

FYI: No more than (3) sleds can be used by a musher during the race. No more than (2) sleds can be shipped beyond the restart. That means one could use another mushers sled, if the need arises, but only up to (3) during the race.

I have a photo of the wind chargers that stand like sentinels near the village of UNALAKLEET. The turbines supplement diesel generated electricity saving thousands of gallons of diesel every year.UNALAKLEET means place where the east wind blows---helping those wind chargers to do their job. One of the mushers said he saw where gasoline was $9 a gallon!!! Wind chargers may be the answer.

RYAN REDINGTON won yet another award for being 1st into WHITE MOUNTAIN--the ACHIEVE MORE AWARD. a check for $2,500 and his name added to a special trophy.

WE HAVE A WINNER: RYAN REDINGTON. You will see by the pictures, that RYAN was a favorite giving the REDINGTON family finally a win after 51 years!!! As you can see, this is the IDITAROD'S 51st year so RYAN'S Grandfather was one of people to help organize the IDITAROD and run in it that first year.

RYAN was thrilled with his win BUT WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY SOUND so I don't know what he was saying to GREG HEISLER. I may get it in the re-runs!! You could see the joy on his face with his good looking strong dogs. You will see the big check that he was presented. They used to give a truck but guess that's in the past. I'd chose the check over the truck!!!

Then about an hour after RYAN came in, he was followed by PETE KAISER in second. He looked tired but excited to see his kids. He said it was quite competitive in the end but he was happy for RYAN.

Next in again approx. an hour later was RICHIE DIEHL who showed his excitement but also looked quite tired. He was happy to be in the top three.

Next in was MATT HALL who said it was a difficult trail to NOME but so happy to be under the ARCH!!! A red headed lady ran to kiss him--I assume it was his wife--if not, oh well.......

Next two in SAFETY knocking on NOME'S door----in the top 5 --KELLY MAIXNER and JESSIE HOLMES.

CONGRATULATIONS to the top 4 (so far) and those on their way.

There are 3 in UNALAKLEET

4 in SHAKTOOLIK

6 in KOYUK

5 in ELIM

6 in WHITE MOUNTAIN

2 in SAFETY

4 in NOME

Tomorrow many more will finish the race. We will wait for the very last one to come in--may be a few more days for that.

PHOTO'S on the next page.

Monday, March 13, 2023

DAY #8 PHOTO'S

DAY #8 PHOTO'Sl

RYAN REDINGTON

good community crowd at WHITE MOUNTAIN

RYAN -WHITE MOUNTAIN

RYAN REDINGTON coming into WHITE MOUNTAIN

The CHEF and helpers for that 5 course dinner--given to the first musher to the YUKON

Getting colder as you can see the ice on the bags and the sled of the musher--in ANVIK

Some volunteers in ANVIK

Left BRUCE LEE rt GREG HEISLER in ANVIK. Check out BRUCE'S beaver skin hat. They are the commentators

DAY #8 IDITAROD MONDAY MARCH 13, 2023. SHAKTOOLIK/KOYUK/ELIM/WHITE MOUNTAIN

DAY# 8 MARCH 13, 2023. SHAKTOOLIK/KOYUK/ELIM/WHITE MOUNTAIN

At 11:00PM EST standings:

RYAN REDINGTON, RICHIE DIEHL,PETE KAISER,MATT HALL, KELLY MAIXNER,JESSIE HOLMES.

RYAN REDINGTON is the only one in WHITE MOUNTAIN

There are 7 in KALTAG ------- WEATHER: 7 during the day -2 at night cloudy

5 in UNALAKLEET " : 5 during the day -4 at night cloudy

6 in SHAKTOOLIK " : 9 during the day -2 at night cloudy

3 in KOYUK " : 7 during the day -2 at night cloudy

8 in ELIM " : 9 " - 0 at night snow

1 in WHITE MOUNTAIN " : 8 " -2 at night. snow

Right now it seems RYAN REDINGTON is in the lead BUT...there is a mandatory rest of 8 hours here before going the 77 miles to NOME. Many a race has been won and lost in this stretch. So many things could happen. Wind, going thru that BLOW HOLE that caused so much trouble last year, dogs deciding they have gone far enough and won't run (it has happened) and so many unforeseen events so race on!!!!

I believe it was told that the mandatory 8 hour rest here is to be "camera ready" and rested for coming into NOME. Both musher and dogs.

There are many here supporting RYAN REDINGTON as he is from such a mushing legendary family but there were no winners in NOME. RYAN just wants that win for as far back as his Grandfather. It would be the 1st REDINGTON win in 51 years.

The top race, at the moment, is between RYAN and PETE KAISER. PETE got into KOYUK and I believe he was going to rest there BUT.... he saw that RYAN wasn't there so he went on as well. That may be a mistake on PETE'S part. Did he need the rest? We'll see if it paid off.

The end is near. We should have #1 under the burled arch in NOME tomorrow.

PHOTO'S on next page.