Former champ paces field

March 11, 2005

CASEY RESSLER/Valley Life Editor

A former Iditarod champion took the halfway award early Thursday morning, and is setting the pace to Nome.

Norwegian Robert Sorlie was the first musher into Iditarod, arriving at 1:41 a.m. Thursday, claiming the GCI Dorothy Page Halfway Award as a result. In 2003, the first and only time Sorlie has run the Iditarod, he won the halfway award and went on to claim the Iditarod title in Nome.

For winning the GCI Dorothy Page Halfway Award, Sorlie pocketed $4,000 in placer gold nuggets. A contingent of Alaskans, including several Valley mushers, is hoping those nuggets slow the Norwegian down a bit.

Following Sorlie into Iditarod were Ramy Brooks at 2:51 a.m. and Martin Buser at 3:06 a.m. Buser's time from Ophir to Iditarod - a 90-mile stretch, the longest distance between any two checkpoints - was more than four hours better than Sorlie's time over the same stretch of trail.

As of press time (10 a.m.) Thursday, the only other mushers into Iditarod were DeeDee Jonrowe (4:30 a.m.), defending champion Mitch Seavey (5:46 a.m.), Jeff King (6:50 a.m.) and Ed Iten (8:47 a.m.).

While all of those mushers appeared to be taking their 24-hour layovers in the ghost town of Iditarod, a strong contingent of mushers coming off of their 24-hour layovers is already heading up the trail.

Aliy Zirkle and Lance Mackey were running in 11th and 12th positions, respectively, and both had already completed their layovers. Lurking back in 15th place was Doug Swingley, who uncharacteristically took his 24-hour layover in McGrath. Typically, Swingley tries to get as far up the trail as possible before electing to take his layover.

Each musher must take a 24-hour layover at a checkpoint of their choosing, as well as one mandatory eight-hour layover somewhere on the Yukon River. Every musher must also take an eight-hour layover in White Mountain, 77 miles from the finish line in Nome.

Typically, the race leaders become more apparent following the 24-hour layovers. Once the teams hit the Yukon River, a handful of contenders usually establishes themselves as the teams to beat.

Now that the first half of the race is over, mushers have to contend not only with the Yukon River, but also with the wind, and as a result, the weather forecast. If storms kick up on the Norton Sound coast, the entire race can change in a minute's notice. If the weather stays relatively calm, however, catching the leader who has a few hours of lead time can be nearly impossible.