DAY #13 IDITAROD THURSDAY MARCH 19, 2026. WHITE MOUNTAIN - NOME

 DAY #13 IDITAROD THURSDAY MARCH 19, 2026 WHITE MOUNTAIN - NOME

I do hope the this is the last sad announcement: ADAM LINDENMUTH scratched. He said his dogs were done mentally and he wouldn't push them. He was past ELIM when he pushed his button for assistance. Once that is done you are out of the race. There were intense winds and it was very cold. He then followed the snow machine to WHITE MOUNTAIN and scratched there. Before SAFETY checkpoint there are river valleys between mountains and the winds funnel straight across the trail and can blow the dogs towards the open water. 

The Race Officials advised that the 10 mushers in WHITE MOUNTAIN ,early this evening, should wait until tomorrow morning to leave when the winds die down. The winds are dangerous and it is very cold. 

I started with the ending now lets go back to the beginning of the day when a total of 20 mushers came under the burled arch in NOME.  Below: JESSIE TERRYwas named ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (a great honor) and also had the fastest time from SAFETY to NOME 2 hours 56 min. Pictured below.

MATT HALL, nearing NOME, across the frozen Bering Sea. You can see some of the ice fishing huts.       

BOTTOM PICTURE : KYELL INGE ROKKA. Hope you remember mention of him at the beginning. He is the billionaire that funded some of the race and dental facilities in some of the communities along the IDITAROD trail. He always wanted to run the race himself so he trained for some time and after ending in NOME was asked what was the most difficult part of the trail. He said "everything about it, I crashed, I wiped out, I was drug on the snow and had only 12 dogs. It was cold, down to -52 you can dress for that but the run is like a train  coming down the trail. First thing I am going to do in NOME is take a shower!! He thanked MARK NORDMAN for being receptive to the idea of an EXPEDITION CLASS and making it possible. That is how he,  STEVE CURTIS and THOMAS WAERNER (former IDITAROD winner) raced in the Expedition Class. They were under different rules and could not receive any awards.

At midnight EST there are 20 mushers in NOME and 9 mushers in WHITE MOUNTAIN. They will wait till the morning when the winds die down and come into NOME. Right now in WHITE MOUNTAIN it is -17 going down tonight to -21 and windy. It is -16 in NOME with a low of -21 and not as windy as WM--only 8mph winds.

                                                             TILL TOMORROW